Rumor Factory Dream

J and I are on a plane heading to Taiwan, but we have to spend a one night layover in China. The receptionist in a red traditional dress is nice enough, but she says that there is no internet in the hotel, although it is big and shiny and luxurious.

Next I am in a parking lot with my dad. I notice steam coming out of a small hole in the asphalt and yell at him to pick up his bags and prepare to run. Sure enough the small hole explodes into a large one as hot water gushes out of it, flooding the parking lot, pushing our car to the edge of a barrier. We run to a giant mansion where a lot of other people, mostly Taiwanese, have taken refuge. My family has a second floor bedroom there.

I look out the bedroom window and see people stacking bodies in white plastic bags together in the courtyard. One of my mom's students died, too, and my dad unwraps a white plastic trash bag so he can go downstairs and help. I try to comfort the two siblings of the dead student and we eat cakes, one provided my family, one by theirs.

I venture out of the mansion by bike to get groceries. Surprisingly there is no rush at the store and there are still plenty of necessary supplies. I get so much stuff I have difficulty carrying it, and almost leave behind a giant plastic jug of water. A man pulls up in his car just as I am considering abandoning my bike because the basket is too small. He gives me and another family a ride. We even stop by a bakery, where I look at cakes, but they are too expensive, so I just buy some cookies and bread for my family.

The guy who gave us a drive invites me to his home. We chat, but soon his mother, a middle aged Asian obasan comes home, and wants to know everything about me. What province are your ancestors from, how tall are you, what languages do you speak and how well? I distract her by taking some Chinese food out of my groceries, offering them to her and walking away quickly.

In the end I find a job working at a Chinese factory. The factory manufactures rumors and pays exceedingly well. I return home with a lot of money.