LONTAR issue #2 by Jason Erik Lundberg (editor)

frayed edges of her clothes. Pupils blacker than charcoal in faces lined with fur and scales peered at her "nakedness." A mongoose climbed right onto the water elephant's back and stuck its nose into her basket.
    "Hey!" Quyên shouted before she could stop herself. "You have to pay for wares!" Her words trailed off as she leaned over and realised the baskets were empty. The leaves must have blown off into the wind.  
    The mongoose stood up on its hind legs, ears alert as it inspected her. Then it scurried under the elephant's belly. Quyên started to lean forward to see where it had gone when it reappeared behind her and lit upon her shoulder with something in its mouth. Automatically her hands caught the item that it dropped, and she found herself holding a jade bangle shaped like a snake. It was the most beautiful piece of jewellery Quyên had ever seen, lovelier than Má's golden wedding necklace that Quyên liked to look at when no one else was in the house. The mongoose chattered at her like one of the aunties in the village trying to make a good deal.
    "I have nothing to trade," she said in dismay. The mongoose jumped onto her head and for a moment she felt dizzy as if something was pushing at her temples, squeezing her skull so that the pressure built and—
    She remembered her hand on Má's stomach and a frown upon her face. It was strange that there was a creature growing in there. There was a lump just under her hand, round and firmer than the rest of the belly. Quyên poked it hard with a finger. Má gasped in pain and looked down at her daughter.  
    "I thought it moved," she explained innocently.
    "You have to be careful, Quyên. Em trai will be very small and delicate when he emerges into the world. You have to help protect him." Má said as she continued sewing the holes in Ba's shirts. Quyên made a face when Má wasn't looking
    "How do you know it's a boy?"
    "I feel him sometimes, in my dreams," Má said with a smile. Her fingers never stopped knitting the two frayed edges of the fabric together.  
    "I don't want an ugly boy! I don't want Em at all! What's wrong with the way things are now?" Quyên said, staring at the ground.  
    "Oh Quyên, you'll feel differently when he's here. I know you, my little stubborn one, your heart will melt."
    "No it won't, it won't, it won't! I won't ever love him!"
    Quyên found herself rocking forwards and put her hands out just in time to stop her head from hitting the water elephant's. The mongoose jumped from her shoulder, holding a golden orb filled with opaque liquid that warped and writhed. It held the orb up for her to inspect and Quyên could just about see her infantile face shouting defiantly at her pregnant Má. It must have only been weeks later when Má died.  
    "Take it," she said. The mongoose nodded and gobbled down the memory like it was a snake's egg. Quyên pulled the bangle around her wrist but all she could feel was the grip of a manacle.
    A ky lân stepped forward with its horns of green and gold. It had delicate hooves that danced on the air and a tail made of fire that swung round and kept others at a distance. Despite all this, Quyên could only stare at the beautiful dress it held carefully in its mouth, an áo dài in sky blue silk with silver lotuses embroidered around the hem, and matching white trousers. She took it carefully from the ky lân's grasp and felt the soft fabric flow like water from her touch. The ky lân's mouth was upturned like the merchant who knew he had a captive customer. Quyên didn't even attempt to haggle, and reached out her hand willingly to make the exchange.
    She remembered scuffing stones into a corner. The sole of her sandal had started to split like a panting dog's mouth, but Bà noi said she would have to be patient until next month or go barefooted. Quyên wouldn't have minded going without shoes except the other children already teased her about having no Má, and she didn't want another reason to be mocked at