When In-hye laid the food she’d brought out on the table, Yeong-hye said, ‘Sister. You don’t have to bring that stuff now.’ She smiled. ‘I don’t need to eat any more.’
‘What are you talking about?’ In-hye stared at her sister as though she were possessed. It was a long time since she’d seen Yeong-hye’s face shining like this; no, in fact, it was the first time. ‘What on earth were you doing just now?’ she asked.
Yeong-hye met her question with another. ‘Sister, did you know?’
‘Know what?’
‘I didn’t, you see. I thought trees stood up straight …I only found out just now. They actually stand with both arms in the earth, all of them. Look, look over there, aren’t you surprised?’ Yeong-hye sprang up and pointed to the window. ‘All of them, they’re all standing on their heads.’ Yeong-hye laughed frantically. In-hye remembered moments from their childhood when Yeong-hye’s face had worn the same expression as it did now. Those moments when her sister’s single-lidded eyes would narrow and turn completely dark, when that innocent laughter would come rushing out of her mouth. ‘Do you know how I found out? Well, I was in a dream, and I was standing on my head …leaves were growing from my body, and roots were sprouting from my hands …so I dug down into the earth. On and on …I wanted flowers to bloom from my crotch so I spread my legs; I spread them wide …’
Bewildered, In-hye looked across at Yeong-hye’s feverish eyes. ‘I need to water my body. I don’t need this kind of food, sister. I need water.’ 

(Han Kang "The Vegetarian")