Hana sat among the stems and pulled out a thermos. She poured out something that smelled like mint and sugar, and for a while they simply drank and watched the countryside breathe. A trio of children chased a dog in the distance, and the dog was an exercise in untroubled joy—barking at the sky, at the very idea of freedom. Kai remembered being smaller, running with sneakers full of gravel, and the memory had edges like sun-faded paper.