The short stories in this collection encompass a whole series of settings and scenarios: from modern day to the time of the Emperors; from Vietnam war zones to royal palaces, fishing villages, and crowded riverboats. Each story is a world of its own: a eunuch from the imperial court whose past painfully returns; a modern household with deep-rooted secrets, resentments, and regrets; a mother who faces a very tough choice for her daughter's good; a picture evokes memories and traces unexpected connections between people; a caged myra bird frees its owner of his past, as he hands it into the hands of a delighted little girl; a soldier finds unexpected empathy for an infamous, ruthless camp chief.