THE morning sun glittered across the surface of the shokomers river,it's waters running clear and restless,whispering against the stones.yuna trudged down the narrow path with an old clay pot balanced in her arms.her feet were dusty, her breath light and though her body ached from the restless night in the cramped shelter,she passed on-her mother needed water.
as she bent by the riverbank to scoop the cool water,voices drifted through the air.sharp.bickering
. two girls stood a little way off,their reflections dancing in the current.one ,tall and slim with braided hair,tossed her head proudly.the other,shorter but with fiery eyes,stood defiantly,hands on her hips.
"I'm the most beautiful in this village,Nancy"the one declared,lips cured into a smirk.
"No,laboo. Everyone knows it's me,"Nancy snapped,flicking her hair so it shone in the light.
Their quarrel rang out like clashing cymbals.but between them stood a third girl-rinie.her face was calm,her features delicate,her beauty effortless,like sunlight slipping through leaves.She raised her hands,trying to part the storm between her friends.
"stop it,both of you,"rinie sighed,her voice soft yet firm."fighting won't make either of you prettier."
Then her gaze shifted.Her eyes landed on yuna,crouched quietly at the river's edge with her pot of water.
"Ah,"rinie said ,a small smile tugging her lips."why argue?Look there -at her. Isn't she lovelier than both of you?"
Nancy and laboo turned sharply.For a heartbeat,silence fell,broken only by the rush of the river.yuna froze,startled clutching the clay pot close.
The three girls walked toward her,their skirt brushing the grass. Rinie's smile was warm ,curious. Laboo tilted her head,curious but uncertain.But Nancy eyes narrowed ,sharp as thorn
"yuna,"she murmed,standing to her feet.
They talked for a while-rinie gentle,laboo teasing,nancy smiling too sweetly.Nancy's laughter rang false,her compliments edged with something bitter.she did not like the way yuna's quiet beauty stole the air,how her innocent made her seem even more radiant.But she hid her envy well,masking it with a sudden offer of friendship.
"come with us again tomorrow"nancy said brightly,slipping her arm around yuna's shoulder.her smile was honey,but her eyes flickerd like hidden knives."we could be...very good friend."
yuna nodded shyly,though a shiver touched her heart.she could not yet see the storm hidden beneath Nancy's smile.
with her pot filed and her mind stirring with unease,yuna left the riverbank.the voices of the three girls faded behind her,replaced by the steady song of shokma's waters.she-cried the water back to her mother,unaware that this meeting had quietly planted both friendship and danger into her life.