-Long Night For Drinking-

The sound of a biwa came to them from a distance. Its nostalgic tune was barely heard over the attention-seeking waves of high tide.
Night bugs chirred back and forth to each other without pause. They sang to the notes of the biwa.

To Adashino, the dark air was punctuated by hesitant flickers of fireflies.
To Ginko, there were more insubstantial creatures to catch the eye. And as always, there was the river, far, far below them.

Adashino could not remember the moon having ever been so full before. Or so green…
Seawater
, he thought
The sky wavered in response.

The sake was like drinking a plum. Ginko savored it, even as it burned in his throat and cheeks.

-The Unforgiving Ground-

Ginko's one constant companion lay solid, unmoving, and silent beneath him.
The rich soil left its scent in his hair. The roots it kept left their bruises on his back. Rock and dust and twig; every night would strain fitfully to bar him from his dreams.

Ginko had trouble sleeping under any other conditions.

-In a Box That Rattles-

Medicines. Herbs. The fingernails of a mermaid. A cocoon with nothing inside it.
But at the back, in the bottom; a bottle of sand from a fishing village, and an intangible promise made to a girl.