She looked weary, sitting in her boat, paddle across her knees, her gaze lowered. Not looking at me, not inviting, not dismissing. Just pausing, her face ageless yet marked by a hardship I could not measure. Life here offered little comfort — not even steady floors to walk on, only water, only work.

I had no way of knowing what her pause meant, or what her rest would return her to. So I watched in silence, and let the moment remain. Some places do not explain themselves; they only show you the wear they leave on those who endure them.

'A Woman at Rest' is the upcoming part 3 of the Kampong Phluk tryptich.