Resonance of A Silent Valley (Chapter 1) Today is the day. She squeezes her eyes to adapt to the brightness of the daylight. A backpack and a small suitcase are her entire belongings. With a peal of thunder coming from behind as the enormous gate firmly shuts, her life is turning to a new chapter. Though, she may not be aware of it at this moment. Standing in a crossroad, looking at different directions, she is completely perplexed: which path is leading home? She is scrutinizing every related detail in her memories, but her seeking fails in the end. She knows for certain that she has a home, because nearly every night she keeps dreaming about a lovely little girl with a dimple on the right cheek and a long scarce on the front head, whom she believes to be her daughter. She is trying to recall more details of her home and the little girl, but soon she feels dizzy and things become blurry: she sees a thousand faces swirling in front of her, people laughing, crying, running, screaming, kissing, fighting…… She firmly covers her ears and heavily shakes her head, trying to get rid of all the rumbling sounds and moving pictures, as she does every day. But this time, without prescribed medication, it doesn’t work anymore. The chill still prevails in the open air, but under the fabric of the bitter coldness, she can feel an imperceptible touch of warmness. She is not sure what day is today and whether it is the end of the winter or the beginning of the spring. She tries to recall what happened in the past that leads her to today, but the old days have already sunk into a deep dark valley that seems to absorb all lights and sounds. She gazes into the shadow, and the shadow is gazing back silently. All of a sudden, she seems to hear some resonance coming from the shades The incessant sound gradually dominates the darkness. She starts to run, but the sound keeps looming behind. What she doesn’t know is that she has no chance at all to escape. Nor does she know whether today is the prelude of her doom or the dawn of her redemption. Released after 27 years in prison, standing at the intersection of her life journey, she finally comes to the point where she can do nothing but to confront her deep-rooted fears and inescapable nightmares. (To be continued)