December 27, 2023

I had a new job lined up but I still needed to fill in a questionnaire that I’d yet to begin reading. I was wandering up and down the stairs of the library when I was told that there was going to be a new dinner routine. Dinner was now going to be served by hiding plates of food around the neighborhood as a way to incentivize people to come down to eat early. I walked through the snowy streets until I spotted a green plate in someone’s garden.

I had gotten lucky despite being “late”: it was a plate of mapo tofu with rice. I was eating from my plate as I continued walking when I spotted a pot of grapes and wax apples on a windowsill. As I approached the wall, I heard the voice of children coming from a barred window below. They were trying to sell off one of their sisters and I backed away from the building in response. I asked the three kids about their situation when my parents showed up and congratulated me on getting a big family.