* Author : Michelle Denham * Narrator : Isabel Kim * Host : Shingai Njeri Kagunda * Audio Producer : Peter Adrian Behravesh * Discuss on Forums PodCastle 721: A Chestnut, A Persimmon, A Cunning Lie is a PodCastle original. Content warning for the loss of a child. Rated PG-13 A Chestnut, A Persimmon, A Cunning Lie By Michelle M. Denham   If you are going to battle a tiger, my darling one, you need three things: a chestnut, a persimmon, and a cunning lie. Haewon’s Omoni brought home the tiger-hearted girl and said, “This is your sister, Hyojin. She has been reborn to us, isn’t that wonderful?” The tiger-hearted girl had amber eyes that burned, red stripes on her face, and long white teeth that gleamed in the dark. Omoni looked at Haewon like she expected her to do something. (A chestnut. A persimmon. A cunning lie.) So Haewon threw her arms around the tiger-hearted girl and said, “Hyojin-ah! I thought we’d never see each other again. I missed you so much.” For her efforts, Haewon received a sharp bite into her shoulder. It was like four needles jabbed into her skin all at once. Haewon cried out, but she didn’t let go of the tiger girl. “Hyojin-ah, how dare you bite your unni? You should show your older sister more respect.” She pulled back to stare at the tiger-hearted girl. She tapped her on the nose, once. “You were always just like this. Even reborn, you’re still the same. Come, I’ll show you our old room.” Haewon took the tiger by her hand and Hyojin followed behind, suddenly meek. “We got rid of your bed,” Haewon said. “So that some other child could have it. But we kept some of your things. This was your rabbit, you named him Banchan.” She held out the tattered stuffed rabbit, and half expected the tiger to rip it apart. But Hyojin sniffed the rabbit and then snatched it from Haewon’s arms like she thought the girl would take it away from her. “It smells like you,” Hyojin said, and that was the first thing Haewon ever heard her say. “Of course it does! Don’t you think I missed my little sister? I would hold it at night, and think about you. It has been many years since you died, so of course everything smells like me.” Hyojin paced around the room smelling everything, like she was trying to find evidence of the girl she had been before she was reborn as a tiger. “How did I die?” “You ask such sad questions!” Haewon said. “You got sick. So sick. The doctors and the shamans couldn’t do anything for you. Omoni made you seaweed soup, but eventually you couldn’t eat. I tried to feed you, but you would turn your head away. I brushed your hair, I sang you songs. Do you remember the songs I would sing to you?” Hyojin shook her head. “I made them up each time,” Haewon said, shaking her head. Tears pricked her eyes, as she thought about singing songs to her dying little sister. “Aaa, Hyojin-ah, don’t make me remember such sad things. Not now, when you’ve returned to us.” Hyojin hung her head. “Sorry, Unni. Sorry I bit you.” “Say sorry for making me sad!” Haewon admonished. “But now you’re back, and we’re sisters again.” Omoni made dduk, her famous rice cake, and she would take it to the market to sell. The night she brought Hyojin home, she never made it to market and thus had no wages to bring home. “I was so excited to see my daughter again,