Who Sheathes First

Shen Xiu guided her sword back into its scabbard first. Gu Tingchuan waited one breath, then sheathed his too.

“Then who won?” The old boatman leaned out from the tea pavilion.

Shen Xiu looked at the two trails of footprints fading beneath the rain. “The one who sheathed first.”

Gu Tingchuan said, “Then I chose a good way to lose.”

When the rain stopped, they folded the two challenge letters into a paper boat and set it on the river. A true ferry never asks where a traveler came from. It asks only whether, this time, they will cross together.