A Christmas Mug

I am dressed in a 30s outfit of pin-striped suit and Panama hat. We have just arrived at a dusty town. Around us are wooden buildings. It feels like a cowboy town. We enter a simple white concrete building. It reminds me of those I've seen in Hengchun, Taiwan - dusty, paint peeling.

We climb the stairs and enter an office, it seems to be having a Christmas party. On a table next to a decorated Christmas tree by the entrance is stacked white mugs printed with a cartoon dancing bear in Santa costume. The bear looks like the mommy bear in Brave, Pixar's recent movie. There are words like 'The World's Greatest Dad'. I am reminded of a mug given by an ex-gf now deceased. The mug she gave me had a cartoon of a loopy girl portrait with the words 'Only Someone Out Of Their Mind Would Fall In With Love You'. I still have that mug.

The cars outside rev. I can tell from the sound that they have been souped up. The sound of superchargers with hundreds of angry horses reined inside. I finish a fruit punch and return to the car.

We drive through a city, streaks of orange and red lights (like some timelapsed night photo) weave in and out in front. The whole place is bathed in out-of-focus neon light. Is this HK? Taipei? A scene from Inception? I can't say.

I am on a ship and travelling. I lift a lid and emerge topside by a gangway. The weather is bright and clear and the wind is strong, caused in part by the boat's high speed. A sandy island looms, we slow down. Someone is putting finishing touches to a sand sculpture. It's a pair of woman legs in the birthing position. Kids emerge laughing, patting themselves free of sand. One looks like Elijah Wood, the other looks like Martin Freeman. I cannot tell who the third person is. A man nearby is videographing the whole scene.

I am back in the village once more sitting on an upturned bucket in what looks like a car workshop. A car is jacked up three feet up in the air, bonnet opened. And I am wondering why it is taking so long. I then wake up.