I stepped out of the small loft - our dimly-lit office-which cooped me up all the year round! I lifted my head and stretched out my arms as if to hold someone in tight embrace.

I ambled along a narrow path and came to a new village. It was a tranquil place, as elegant as a beautiful garden. But the curtains of the villas there were drawn and the screen doors locked. I guessed the wealthy, probably not accustomed to the chilly and lonesome winter in the countryside, must have flocked to the bustling city.

Stopping on a small wooden bridge. I looked out across the patch of green on the opposite hill. The grass there had withered, but newly-planted wheat was sprouting up on the wintry hillside.