Dream LXXXI

I was travelling by bus with a large group of people. We were going to stay at a resort in a vacation town.

I didn't know any of the others, but I did see a very beautiful Asian woman sitting a few seats away. I fell instantly in love with her.

She was looking around nervously and finally spotted me. She rose and took the empty seat next to me. She told me she was new in the country and didn't know much about America, and she asked if I would help her to adjust and show her some of the sights she might not see on the tour. I told her I would be happy to do so.

We pulled into the parking lot of our resort, and while the rest of the tourists went to their assigned rooms, I told her to get back on the bus and I would drive her around some of the other sights of the city. She asked me if I knew how to drive a bus, and I admitted that I didn't but told her, "How hard could it be?"

I nervously but expertly manoeuvered the bus through the traffic. I told her we would go to the shopping mall some miles away, supposed to be one of the best in the world.

As we were driving, she spotted a small motel. "I'd like to go there!" she said, pointing, so I pulled the bus into a parking space and checked us in. We undressed for bed and I asked her to marry me. Smiling, she said she would. Both of us immediately fell asleep.

When I awoke the next morning, she was hurridly dressing. "It's already 8:30," she said, "If we miss the check-out time, we'll be charged for two nights!" I told her the checkout time was usually around ten or eleven, but since she was so nervous I agreed we would check out right away. I then drove the bus to the shopping mall.

It was spectacular, decorated for Christmas with thousands of lights and ornaments. We wandered around hand-in-hand for a long time, finally sitting on a bench in the middle of one of the corridors. I looked over to the right, and saw someone I knew from work. He waved at me, and I waved back, and he gave me a puzzled look. I turned to look back, and I was alone on the bench. She was gone.

I rose, frantic, and started searching the mall, but I never found her. I never even knew what her name was.