Dechhen carefully attached four little bits of tsampa dough onto a ball of tsampa.

'Aama look, I made a dog!' She said, showing her mother the misshapen tsampa ball with four little stubs.

'Come on Dechhen, don't play with your food, eat!' Aama said, pouring tea into her own bowl of tsampa.

'Woah, it does look like a dog! You are an artist!' Papa said, grinning at her.

Dechhen looked at her sculpture critically. 'I just need to figure out how to make the ears,' she said.

'Eat, Dechhen, we need to be going soon,' Papa said. He had already finished most of his breakfast; he poured more tea into his mostly empty bowl, swirled the bowl around, and gulped down the tea.

'Why are you in such a hurry?' Aama said, looking at Papa suspiciously.

'Just want to get to the pastures before the sun gets too hot,' Papa said.

'I see.' Aama said. 'Are you going to be home in time for dinner today?' she asked, still looking at him suspiciously.

'I will be back before sundown,' he said, then abruptly got up. 'All right Dechhen, better eat quickly, we are leaving in ten minutes!' he said.

Dechhen took a large bite out of her tsampa sculpture and nodded in agreement.

After breakfast, she grabbed her toy snow leopard, said goodbye to Aama, and went outside the house, where Papa was already waiting. He had not brought the yaks out.

'Where are the yaks, Papa?' Dechhen asked.

'They are going to be staying home today, Dechhenla. Your Papa has other errands to run. Now let's go!' Papa said, holding out his hand for Dechhen.

She took Papa's hand as they walked on the cobbled streets outside their home.

'What errands do you have?' she asked.

'Grown-up errands.' Papa said.

Dechhen had more follow-up questions, but she did not ask them. She had long learned that when adults said something was 'grown-up', they meant she was not to ask more questions.

She tried to wiggle her hand out of her father's hand. Normally, Papa had his hands full trying to get the yaks to walk in a straight line and not bump into one another. Dechhen would run ahead of them; she only needed to make sure that she was within Papa's eyesight. This time, without the yaks, Papa held Dechhen's hand in a sweaty grip that she did not enjoy.

'Your hand is too sweaty, Papa!' she complained. Papa let go of her hand; Dechhen immediately raced ahead, skipping over the stone slabs on the street.

'Dechhen, stop! This is why I have to hold your hand!' Papa said.

Dechhen stopped and pouted. 'You walk so slow! I like to skip over the stones and make sure I don’t step on the lines!' she said.

Papa caught up to Dechhen, held her hand again as they walked through the village centre.

It was still fairly early in the morning; few people were out and about. Papa and Dechhen passed a tea shop where a group of old people sat together drinking tea and chatting.

'Tashi Delek, Phuri! No yaks today?' an old lady called out.

'Tashi Delek, Aani! No, I have other errands to do!' Papa replied as they continued to make their way.

When they reached the steps to the Gumba, Papa lifted Dechhen up onto his shoulders. This made Dechhen very happy; grasping Papa’s hands tightly, she giggled as Papa climbed up the steps, feeling very tall.

The Gumba was quiet and empty; a faint scent of sandalwood, pine, and myrrh wafted through the air. Without the bustle of hundreds of people in the courtyard, the massive red and yellow building looked almost lost. Papa gently put Dechhen down, who dashed across the courtyard and ran behind the Gumba. There was a small yellow house at the backyard with a large apple tree next to it. Dechhen ran up to the front door of the house; a long green curtain with the images of the three deities - the Druk, the Wind Horse, and the Garuda embroidered in colourful threads hung over it. A shoe rack with neatly stacked boots and house slippers stood against the wall next to the door. Dechhen impatiently kicked her boots off one by one.

'Aamgaga! Ajyang!' she called out.

Ajyang poked his head out of the door.

'You are here early today! We are just having breakfast!' he said.

Papa walked around the corner of the Gumba at the same time.

'Tashi Delek, Chhau Phuri! Would you like to come in for tea?' Ajyang said.

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'Tashi Delek! Yes, I will come in in a minute.' Papa said as he approached the door and took off his boots.

Ajyang popped back into the house and Dechhen followed him in. They walked into a large-ish kitchen; one of the walls was adorned with copper plates, bowls, and pots mounted on a wooden cupboard. A firewood stove dug into the earth had a large kettle over it. On another side of the kitchen, there was a small cot covered in a crimson duvet. Aamgaga and Gaga Denji were sitting down on floor mats, eating ting-momo with potato soup. Ajyang sat down as well, next to his own plate of food.

'Tashi Delek, Aamgaga! Tashi Delek, Gaga Denji!' Dechhen said as she sat down next to her grandmother.

'Tashi Delek! You are here early today!' Gaga Denji said with a genial smile and a mouth full of ting-momo.

'Have you had your breakfast yet?' Aamgaga asked.

'Yes, I have!' Dechhen said.

Papa came in through the door at the same time.

'Tashi Delek Ibi, Mhem!' he said.

'Tashi Delek! Please, sit, would you like eat with us?' Gaga Denji asked.

'Dechhen and I have both had breakfast, thank you.' Papa said, sitting down.

'Tea, then! Tashi, get your Chhau some tea!' Gaga Denji said.

Ajyang immediately got up to get a small bowl from the cupboard.

'Where are the yaks, Phuri? Have you left them at the courtyard?' Aamgaga asked.

'I didn't bring them today, Ibi. I had some other things I needed to do.' Papa said.

'Oh? What things?' Aamgaga asked.

'I shall explain later. I wouldn't want to intrude upon your breakfast with serious matters.' Papa said.

Gaga Denji and Aamgaga exchanged looks. Ajyang poured some tea into a bowl from a kettle and handed it to Papa. He sat down to finish his meal.

'Of course! Let's finish breakfast, and then we can talk.' Aamgaga said.

Ajyang looked at Papa and his parents, then looked at Dechhen with a questioning look. Dechhen scooted over to him, and from her pocket pulled out the snow leopard toy.

'You brought it! Great! I get to keep it today, right?' Ajyang said.

Dechhen nodded.

Ajyang stretched his hand out to Dechhen, and she placed the toy on his palm. He flipped the toy over, turned the key at its belly, and quickly placed on the ground. The snow leopard raised its front paws, did a quick backflip, and landed back on its hind legs. Ajyang gleefully clapped.

'Finish your meal, Tashi! You can play with your niece later!' Aamgaga said.

Ajyang turned back to his plate and started wolfing down his food.

'We should try to get it to do the backflip from a height, like maybe my bed,' Ajyang said, with his mouth full of food. 'See if it still lands on its feet.'

'I have tried it at home,' Dechhen said. 'It sometimes does, but mostly it just falls on its side.'

'Shhh, kids, we are trying to talk here,' Aamgaga said.

Gaga Denji was finished with his meal.

'Is this conversation something I need to be here for as well or is this only for Yangzom?' he asked.

'Of course you can stay for the conversation as well, but if you need to head to work, then that is also fine, Mhem.' Papa said.

'Well in that case, I shall leave you. I would like to finish chopping wood before midday; the sun really burns my neck.' Gaga Denji said, picking up his plate and getting up. 'Dechhenla, I shall see you at lunch, okay?' he said.

'See you later, Gaga!' Dechhen said.

'Let me take your plate, Pala!' Ajyang said, as he hurriedly mopped the last bit of potato soup with the remaining ting-momo and stuffed it in his mouth. He then got up and took both his plate and his father's.

'Here, Tashi, you may take mine as well,' Aamgaga said, passing her plate to him. 'Take Dechhen with you and play with her for a bit while I chat with Chhau Phuri, okay? Don't worry about doing the dishes, just leave them by the tap.'

Ajyang nodded. 'Come Dechhen, let's go!' he said, and Dechhen followed him out the door.

Ajyang and Dechhen went out of the house, put on some slippers from the shoe rack, and walked to a water tap next to the house. Ajyang's father left soon after them with an axe slung over his shoulder.

'Bye Gaga!' Dechhen called out, waving. Gaga Denji looked back at them and waved. They watched him as he walked around the Gumba.

'What does your Papa want to talk to my Aama about?' Ajyang asked Dechhen as he placed the copper plates and bowls by water tap.

Dechhen shrugged. 'I don't know,' she said.

'Did he not say anything to you?' he asked.

'Nope,' she said, 'Do you want to play here, or at the courtyard?'

'In a minute,' Ajyang said.

Without warning, Ajyang ran back towards the house. Dechhen followed him, a little confused. He pressed his forefinger against his lips, gesturing at Dechhen to be quiet. Slowly, he walked to the front door and pressed his ear against it; Dechhen watched him quietly, some distance away. If either Aamgaga or her Papa stepped out, she was well positioned to run away and feign innocence.

From where she stood, Dechhen could hear snippets of the adults' conversations.

'Ibi, why I went there is not important, please listen to what I am trying to say -' Papa's voice carried through the closed door.

'.... incredibly disappointed.....someone with two children....' Aamgaga was saying.

'.....worse than I thought!..... not your decision!' Papa was saying.

Suddenly, Ajyang lunged towards Dechhen. Frightened, she ran blindly to the opposite direction; Ajyang followed behind her. They stopped underneath the apple tree.

Papa stepped out of the front door, looking upset. He looked at the two children standing by the tree, nodded at them, and swiftly walked away.

‘Are you leaving, Papa?’ Dechhen called out. Papa did not respond, or even turn back. Dechhen and Ajyang watched him walk around the Gumba and leave.

'Tashi! Dechhen!' Aamgaga called out.

The children turned back to see Aamgaga walking towards them.

`'What are you two up to?' she asked.

'Nothing.' Dechhen said.

'Just playing.' Ajyang said.

'I see.' Aamgaga said. She slowly walked towards them, next to the apple tree, then looked up at the tree. 'Looks like we will have a big harvest next month.' she said.

'Papa left without saying goodbye.' Dechhen said.

'He has a lot on his mind, don’t worry about it,' Aamgaga replied. ‘Did you do the dishes, Tashi?’

'What?' Ajyang asked.

'The dishes, I asked you to do them,' Aamgaga said.

'But you said just leave them outside!' Ajyang said indignantly.

'Well, do them now, okay?' Aamgaga said. Ajyang grumbled and kicked at a stone on the ground.

‘What was that?’ Aamgaga said sharply.

‘Nothing.’ Ajyang mumbled.

Aamgaga looked at Ajyang sternly for a second then looked away. 'Listen, I can't give you two any lessons today, okay? I need to go somewhere right now.' she said.

'Where are you going, Aama?' Ajyang asked.

'Don't worry about that. I will be back in time for lunch, but in case I am not, Tashi, boil enough potatoes for three and make some garlic-chilli dip; don't give any of the dip to Dechhen though, give her butter instead, okay?' Aamgaga said.

'Okay Aama,' Ajyang said.

'Don't leave the Gumba, either of you, okay? Tashi, you are in-charge, look after Dechhen, okay?' she said.

'Yes, Aama,' Ajyang said.

'Be good, you two.' Aamgaga said, and she walked back into the house.