ភាគទី០២ ការបង្កើតគ្រួសារ

Episode 2: Family Struggles

Three years have passed since the hopeful morning of Borey's birth. The joy of that day now feels like a distant memory, replaced by the harsh, baked-earth reality of a relentless drought.

In this image, the sun beats down from a pale, hazy sky onto a parched landscape. Dara, now 20, is leaner, his youthful features sharpened by worry. His strong jaw is set in a mask of grim determination as he lifts a simple hoe, its blade striking the cracked, unforgiving soil with a dull thud. His simple cotton shirt is faded and patched, and a krama is wrapped around his head to shield him from the relentless heat. His expressive eyes, once filled with vulnerability, now burn with a fierce need to provide.

Beside him, Chantha, 21, kneels on the dry ground. Her long black hair is pulled back tightly, revealing a face etched with a profound, quiet sorrow. The grace is still there in her posture, but it is a weary grace. Her traditional sampot is worn and its earthy tones have faded under the sun. With hands that are no longer just gentle but chapped and stained, she carefully pulls a weed from beside a single, struggling vegetable plant—a tiny speck of green in a sea of brown. Her soulful eyes are fixed on their small son nearby.

Borey, a small and delicate 3-year-old, sits on a worn mat in the sliver of shade cast by their stilt house. The house itself looks fragile, its wooden stilts stark against the barren ground. Recovering from a recent fever that drained their meager savings, Borey is thin, his large, curious eyes watching his parents with a seriousness that doesn't belong on a child's face.

The scene is one of stark poverty. There are no signs of abundance—only the family, their simple home, a few clay pots near the stairs, and the vast, barren field that promises little. Their expressions are somber, yet in the tireless rhythm of their work is a powerful, unspoken resilience. They fight not for prosperity, but for survival, their silent struggle a testament to their deep love for each other and the small boy who is their world.