That evening Noi sat with Kun Mere before the tall window with the shutters open, waiting for Ting to come home. Kun Mere embroidered a cloth with red thread. Soon the factory bus would arrive and Ting would run along the lane, her footsteps quick on the soft dirt.

Gradually, dusk gathered under the trees, then entered the room, coming between Kun Mere and Noi. Birds flew from tree to tree, preparing for the night.

Noi slapped at the mosquitoes that came out after sunset and bit her ankles. Her palms reddened with blood. Why was Ting so late?

The jungle grew velvety black and the hinghoy, or fireflies, began to appear, zigzagging through the bushes, making the trees pulse with light. Sometimes Noi liked to catch one and hold it, glowing, in her hands. But tonight she could think only of seeing Ting.

Kun Mere turned on the light behind them in the living room, illuminating the house and even a little distance into the jungle. Yet still no Ting.

When Ting did arrive, Noi didn’t hear her footsteps on the path but rather sensed her presence at the bottom of the ladder. She went to the top rung. “Ting?”

Silence.

“Ting, is that you?”

“Yes, Noi.” Ting exhaled the words.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m tired, that’s all.” With that, Ting climbed the ladder, emerging into the range of the light. She stood a minute, silhouetted in the doorway, her shape dark against the dark.

Kun Mere set aside her embroidery, and Noi stepped backward.

Stray pieces of Ting’s curly hair wandered loose from her comb. The pupils of her eyes were large and black.

Kun Mere gestured toward the eating mat that Noi had left out for Ting.

“Sit down,” said Kun Mere.

Ting sat, crossing her legs in front of her.

“How was the work, little daughter?” Kun Mere asked brightly, arranging Ting’s dinner in a bowl and setting it in front of her on the mat.

Outside, an owl hooted — two long, smooth notes — then silence. Inside, a mosquito whined.

Noi reached into her book bag and took out a schoolbook. She opened it and pretended to read.

Ting paused for so long before answering that Noi finally looked up.

The owl hooted again.

Would Ting refuse to answer Kun Mere?

At last she said, “I did the same thing all day. I used tweezers to balance a tiny part on a wire. Then I used a small tool to solder the part on.”

“Was that all?”

“Yes, Kun Mere.” Ting lifted her bowl of noodle soup close to her face and began to spoon it into her mouth quickly.

Noi stared at her book. She’d never seen Ting so tired. Did Kun Mere really know what she was doing? The words on the page crowded together and drifted apart without making sense.

After they were both in bed, the mosquito net drawn and tucked tightly, Noi reached for Ting’s hand. “How was it really?”

Ting yawned so hugely that Noi felt her moist breath on her cheek. “Very boring. You wouldn’t like it.”

“But do you?”

“It’ll do for now,” Ting said. And then she was asleep, her hand limp in Noi’s.

As Noi lay awake, turning Ting’s new life over and over in her mind, she overheard Kun Ya talking with Kun Mere in the kitchen.

“That factory isn’t a good place for a young girl. It will cost her her health and youth.”

Kun Mere was silent.

“She shouldn’t have to go, my daughter,” Kun Ya insisted, her voice as muscular as her strong fingers.

“I would go in her place, but the work needs a young person’s perfect eyes and steady hands,” said Kun Mere.

A painful silence followed.

Noi smelled smoke. Kun Ya had rolled a cigar from fresh tobacco leaves and was smoking, as she did whenever she wanted to think.

“You must understand, Kun Mere,” Kun Mere finally addressed her mother. “Without her work, we don’t have enough.” Her words sounded like coins being counted out one by one.

Ting turned her head back and forth on her pillow. No one ever talked against the advice of the household elder.

The smoke from Kun Ya’s cigar made Noi sneeze. She muffled the sneeze with the blanket so that no one would know she was awake.

“There must be other ways,” Kun Ya finally said.

The aching silence. Noi wished the owl would hoot again to break it.