I dreamt that I was standing in the sunlit lobby of my department store at closing time and saying goodbye to my customers. They were streaming past me and responding in kind. We were somewhere in California, and everyone was smiling. The store was enormous and very popular in these parts. And then I saw a girl and a boy walking out. It was clear that they were trying to grab my attention. The boy was eight or nine. The girl was two or three years older than the boy, as well as a head taller. It was clear they were siblings, as both had the same mixture of Caucasian and Asian features. When they came closer, they stopped a few paces in front of me. The girl clambered on a concrete planter, of which there were several in the lobby, and tried to frame the boy with her long legs. He smiled awkwardly. “Don’t you remember me?” he whispered at last. Seeing that I did not remember him, he continued: “I’m Lee! You wished me the happiest of birthdays only a few days ago!” Then I remembered the children of some old acquaintances of mine. He was American and she Chinese. “Kids,” I exclaimed, “you are so much bigger than the last time I saw you!” The three of us hugged at last and I woke up. “Gosh,” I mumbled to myself, “that must have been someone else’s dream…”