Chapter Four: No Rent Charged in Dreams

Meng had swallowed the central memory along with the nightmare, believing that removal was treatment. “You didn't eat her fear,” Su Li said. “You ate her right to wait for her mother.” Meng fell asleep again. Floodwater swallowed the restaurant. Su Li woke upon a bridge in a rainstorm. Xu Tang sat atop a streetlamp, Mo Tuan had become a schoolbag, and Wen Jiu was a road sign reading DANGER AHEAD. “Why am I still myself?” Xie asked from the water. “Poor imagination,” said the schoolbag. A girl wept beneath the bridge. A white umbrella floated on the river, repeating, “Forget, and it won't hurt.” As Su Li approached, her mother's voice rose from the water. “Lili, stop waiting for me.” She knew it was a dream, yet froze.