Forest of Death

Two Years later. 2011, 28 December.

Two years had swiftly passed, and Chan Juan, now an 8-year-old, sat beneath the comforting shade of a neem tree on her birthday. December 28, 2004, marked the anniversary of her arrival into this mortal world, a place where the inevitability of death lingered, an ever-present reality that visited every doorstep, its knock a reminder echoing five times a day. The weight of mortality hung like a specter over each passing moment.

Dressed in a delightful pink frock, Chan Juan sat serenely on a small wooden chair, gently tending to her hair with a comb. In a sudden interruption, a mosquito landed on her leg, leaving behind an itchy sting. Unknowingly, she scratched at the spot, and to her surprise, the skin broke, and blood began to trickle down her leg.