Shui Bing'er crouched by the bank, in no hurry to release her flower lantern. She lowered her head and watched the course of the lanterns on the river. Now and then, a breeze skimmed across the water, making her fingertips pause briefly above its surface before she gently set her lantern afloat.
Once in the water, the flower lantern drifted some distance downstream and joined the moving points of light. It soon mingled with the other lanterns until it could no longer be picked out.
The lights on the water gradually multiplied, their scattered glimmers joining into a flowing ribbon of light that followed the river's curves into the distance, until a bend in the channel and the darkness swallowed it.
A breeze swept across the river, gently rocking several lanterns that had not yet drifted far before they resumed their steady progress. Some people lingered on the bank, while others had already turned to leave.
Footsteps gradually scattered along the stone-paved riverside path, mingling with the occasional clamor from the distant streets as they faded away along the river.
The light on the river kept moving, slowly spreading through the darkness before gathering toward the middle with the ripples. It was as though the current were slowly drawing in the spirit of the entire festival, twisting it into a long, slender cord to weave into the distant darkness.
No one spoke again, nor did anyone deliberately look back. The lanterns still shone steadily in the night, while the flower lanterns on the water continued drifting into the distance, disappearing one by one around the bend. It was as though someone had left a stretch of blank space at the end of a finished scroll, ready to be scattered by the breeze or folded away, waiting for just the right