The morning was quiet in the abandoned market, with no vendors in sight. The three children wandered in search of scraps to eat.
Kimh led the way, trying to hide the weakness behind the scars left by hunger and injustice.
Nunna reached for wilted vegetables and stale bread, her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings with caution at every step.
Kongphop followed behind, secretly glancing at people in clean clothes—a world he had no right to touch.
"Why do they have everything… their lives, their chances… and we have to go hungry like this?"
Nunna whispered, as if afraid someone might hear.
Kimh clenched his fists, staring at the children in the private school car that had just passed. "One day… we won't lose to them… not ever."
They walked past an old wooden stall, littered with trash, when Kongphop stumbled upon something.
A small, broken shard of mirror, still catching the dim light from the sky.
The light reflected onto his hand, as if some pattern or symbol had appeared within the shadows.
Nunna and Kimh stopped, eyes following his hand. The reflection was not their own shadows, but seemed like the silhouette of something unfamiliar.
Suddenly, a cold wind swept through, making all three of them shiver to the bone.
"That… what is that?" Kongphop asked, his voice trembling.
Kimh stared at the fractured light in the glass, feeling as though some force was pulling them forward.
Nunna whispered, "It's… like someone is calling us."
The bell on the hill rang again, this time like a signal—not merely the sound of wind or metal.
It resonated in the hearts of the three children, as if the fate tied to their blood and the curse was beginning to stir.
They did not know that the abandoned market held more than just trash and hunger.
It was the first shadow of a destiny waiting to awaken the hidden power within their bloodline…