Sister, I hear you, feel your hands in the dirt, searching.

I will answer your call--I'll return.

What a great, attention-grabbing prologue! It's so interesting that this section is through the eyes of the dead sister, supposedly hearing the call of the main character and describing the moments before and after her death. It's almost like the sister was a disembodied spirit watching everything that came after. It sets the tone and adds a small layer of horror already. The writing is sharp and biting (like in *"Water killed me before cold could; my lungs, an overfilled vase."), and yet, there is a tenderness in parts like "My funeral was small. Our family took me home in a celadon vase embossed with white-deer filigree. Made a makeshift altar above the fireplace with a photo of me smiling at something beckoning from just beyond the frame."

I also like the touches of culture included from the start. The part of the "white-deer filigree" is interesting. White deer are symbolic in Korea, and I wonder if this is intentional for something in the latter parts of the story.