Fire Goat

Lunar New Year fell on Jan 28. Anyone born before that date belongs to the previous year (Horse).

Goats are softly stubborn. They do not argue and they do not push back; they simply continue at their own pace while you hurry around them. Care for texture and atmosphere is close to instinct: how the table is set, how many lamps are on, whether a conversation is flowing. They read as gentle and easy to be around. The quiet part is how they hold a grudge. There is no scorekeeping out loud, just a door nudged a little further closed. They remember which chair you always take and put it back before you arrive.

The earth has gone pale with sun, dust lifts at a breath of wind, and the light presses down from above, dry and close. Such people do not look hurried but are dry inside: soft words, heat stored in the stomach. They endure, and endure a long time, until one small thing turns their face red and startles the room, themselves included. Dryness is not a fault. What is missing is a soaking rain, or a place to finish a whole sentence.