Chapter 23: The Song of the Seed

The voice from the tree did not speak again. It simply waited, as patient as the stone, and Siu-Bak found himself waiting with it. He had learned, in his years on the street, that the worst thing you could do was rush. Rush to a shelter and the door was locked. Rush to a free meal and the line was twice as long. Rush to grab a warm spot and someone bigger was already there, grinning at your hurry.