The village, like other places, had most of its able-bodied adults conscripted, leaving mostly the elderly and children.
At noon, when the sun was at its fiercest, other families' children would have gone home for lunch, but she, alone and without grandchildren to look after, settled for eating some rotten melons.
The old woman then simply invited a few children to join her in the melon field to share the melon feast.
"These can't be kept; not eating them would be a waste. See which ones you can eat, and then go ahead."
The old lady waved them over to sit.
"This doesn't seem right, after all, you worked hard to grow these melons." Bai Sasa politely refused, remembering that the old woman had initially told everyone not to pick any because the melons were not ripe.
She was now inviting them to see if there was anything edible.
Bai Sasa was unsure whether the old woman wanted them to eat the melons or not, so she simply chose not to eat.
