Chapitre 55: Wang China — 1966 Lonely Journeys

When the second full moon rises, bringing transformation and hunger, Wang understands. He is cursed, dammed to be forever alone and apart.

Every month, just before the moon climbs full and round into the night sky, Wang leaves home and hides in the fields. He strips, secreting a few rags and his clothes in a ditch. At first light, he runs crouching and naked to the pond. Submerging his body in the shallow, murky water, he washes the blood from his face and scrapes tissue from beneath his fingernails. Emerging muddy but cleansed, he towels the dirt away and dresses, hiding the rags near the house. Late on some half-moon night when Li and Mei are asleep, he will wash the rags, saving them for his next metamorphosis.