Giant lotus pads part to make way for buds that pierce the surface of the jade green pond. They raise their faces to the sun, their delicate fragrance floating around them. In the shadow of the flowers, tiny dragonfly nymphs also emerge from the shallows. They spread their fragile wings and shyly take flight, ready to explore a world beyond the water. Shimmering pools of nearby golden rice fields call to the dragonflies. Their long, quivering bodies flit across the cascading terraces to alight upon swaying stalks, sparkling with sunlight caught in droplets on iridescent wings.