A Wish in the Dark

Pong’s fears are assuaged when he realizes that it was not the authorities who grabbed him but Yord and Yai, Ampai’s personal bodyguards. Pong finally meets the leader of the Mud House; Ampai reminds him of Father Cham as she greets everyone by name and with equal respect, including the children. Ampai is thrilled that Somkit learned how to create gold orbs; she plans to use the orbs in a march on Giant’s Bridge next week to protest the Governor’s new law raising the price of light orbs by 10%. According to Ampai, the Governor intends to use this extra revenue to build another children’s “reform” center, in which he will imprison all the homeless children of Chattana. Pong feels sick at the thought of it, and he reflects on how differently Father Cham and the Governor react to the needy and the desperate. Somkit’s gold orbs will be a potent symbol at the march, demonstrating to the people that they don’t need the Governor to generate light of their own.

To make more gold orbs, Somkit needs faded orbs—orbs that have lost their charge and can be refilled with the sun’s energy.