The night screen had been lowered. Chitwan National Park was submerged in darkness. The animals had gone back to their homes, ready to go to sleep. It was still too early for human beings to have sweet dreams. However, darkness and a lack of a vehicle prevented us from going out.

    “What shall we do? I don’t feel like going back to the room,” Min said.

    “Why not sit along the riverside and chat for a while?” Ke suggested.

    “Good idea,” I replied.

    Along the riverside, there were some chairs and a bed made of rope. I lay down, and the other two sat beside me. A piece of soft music drifted around with the gentle wind. Overhead, millions of stars twinkled. Were they willing to listen to us talk?

    We lived in different parts of the country, but this trip brought us all together. We met at the gate of the Nepalese embassy in Lhasa and formed a group to travel in Nepal. I was particularly interested in why they decided to walk to Lhasa, which took them 19 days.

    “I was not feeling good about my life. I could not adapt to my new role in the family,” Min said. She married a man who was crazy about her. However, the relationship between them was not so sweet. Quarrels often took place. What was worse, her husband wanted a baby, yet she was not ready for it. Then she told us her story.

    “We met at my workplace. He was my client,” Min said. “He had a crush on me and then went after me...” Her story was so romantic that I thought it was a soap opera. “Finally, I accepted his love,” Min continued, “but I’m not sure whether it was because of love or something else.”

    “And how about you, Ke?” I asked.

    “I followed the path of my goddess,” Ke said. “She’s been to Lhasa and Nepal. And now she’s teaching in Xining. I would like to follow her path. Actually, I don’t care how I complete my journey as long as I know my destination.” Saying this, he began to sing, “Just because I took one more glance at you in the crowd, I could no longer forget your face...” His facial expression was so sacred that I thought he was a believer. He was not singing, but praying, praying for his goddess to accept his love. I was touched by the mood that the song carried.

    The splendid Milky Way always evoked my imagination. I stared at it, dreaming...