You dream but you don’t believe that it would happen for you. Not like it does for people in films, anyway. And when it does, you wonder what good fortunes you’ve exhausted but don’t really care. You’re here.

Tickets, he mumbles, after shooting us a dirty look. I jump up, he crouches down, they were here just a minute ago. Pockets turned inside out, backpacks sifted through. We can feel his hot breath on our necks.

I swear we paid the fare, I say, where the hell are they?

I’m so nervous, I begin to giggle. Hysterical, hiccupy giggles. We’re in the middle of nowhere on a train to New York.

He grimaces but can’t stop himself and starts to laugh too. Beads of sweat and some unintelligible apologies, some promises to call the credit card company for proof, we’re just stumped. Twenty two minutes later, we’re on a platform off the train and more than 2 hours away from our destination. Well, you know about the lemons that the world gives you and what you’re supposed to do with them. You fling them at the nearest train official.

We ran through the station, our backpacks swinging wildly. We hear shouts and hey hey hey from the guy to whom we’ve been handed.

Our next step was a neighbourhood Macy’s. My feet are frozen and his nose is red. We need warmth. So many lights, sounds and cotton (supposed to be snow) on the gigantic Christmas display.

We look at each other. Look at the display. We look at each other again.

We jump into the display and become tangled in the decoration. He throws a golden star at me. I throw baby Jesus at him. He is laughing so hard his asthma acts up. He is on the ground, struggling to breathe. This is my opportunity, I grab the biggest paper gnome and drop it squarely on his back. I love him but I gotta win one of these fights one of these days.

I raise my arms, 1 round, 1 TKO. We hear shouts and hey hey hey from a fat woman in a Santa suit. Time to bolt again. It’s now 3 a.m. and we have only 18 dollars for food after we pay for bus tickets. This has to last for at least 4 meals.

More later…

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My surprise dinner guest was this wonderful love from the recent past with whom I’ve had many an adventurous midnight run. So many memories.