On the 16th of March, 2008, as I was taking an afternoon nap, I had a dream at about 3pm. My father was driving me in our car and we past by a row of low houses. The whole place was brown in colour and looked barren and the road was not tarred. The place was non-descript.
My father stopped at the end of the street and I asked him, "Eh, why did you stop the car?" And the replied in English, "Grandmother wants to see you." I was puzzled for a moment because I did not know which "grandmother" he meant. Either way, both my maternal and paternal grandmother are already dead.
If my father had told me in Cantonese, I would know who because we address our maternal and paternal grandmothers and grandfathers with different terms.
So I went down the car and walked back down the road where we came from and knocked on the little door [or it could be a window] that looked like the door of a meat safe, and I remember distinctly that the small house was orange in colour, including the roof.
The door opened and I saw the back of an old lady. She turned around and I recognised her as my paternal grandmother. fromt he outside of the small house, I could only see the top part of her body even though she looked like she was standing inside the house.
I did not speak but she told me four words in Cantonese. These four words make up an idiom and because I don't speak Mandarin, I could not comprehand her meaning and hence, it did not stick in my mind. I forgot the words when I woke up.
Besides telling me the Chinese idiom, which I am convinced carries a deeper meaning, my grandmother pressed a folded piece of paper into my palm. I turned and walked away with both hands clutching onto the piece of paper with nails digging into my palm as if the paper was something very important.
A long while later, I opened the folded piece of paper to see what was written inside but it was blank. My dog attempted to eat it.
I'm still trying to make out what the dream means. With Qing Ming Festival just round the corner, I think she's asking for more "paper paraphernalia".
For people who do not believe in heaven, hell or purgotary, please reserve your comments.
My father stopped at the end of the street and I asked him, "Eh, why did you stop the car?" And the replied in English, "Grandmother wants to see you." I was puzzled for a moment because I did not know which "grandmother" he meant. Either way, both my maternal and paternal grandmother are already dead.
If my father had told me in Cantonese, I would know who because we address our maternal and paternal grandmothers and grandfathers with different terms.
So I went down the car and walked back down the road where we came from and knocked on the little door [or it could be a window] that looked like the door of a meat safe, and I remember distinctly that the small house was orange in colour, including the roof.
The door opened and I saw the back of an old lady. She turned around and I recognised her as my paternal grandmother. fromt he outside of the small house, I could only see the top part of her body even though she looked like she was standing inside the house.
I did not speak but she told me four words in Cantonese. These four words make up an idiom and because I don't speak Mandarin, I could not comprehand her meaning and hence, it did not stick in my mind. I forgot the words when I woke up.
Besides telling me the Chinese idiom, which I am convinced carries a deeper meaning, my grandmother pressed a folded piece of paper into my palm. I turned and walked away with both hands clutching onto the piece of paper with nails digging into my palm as if the paper was something very important.
A long while later, I opened the folded piece of paper to see what was written inside but it was blank. My dog attempted to eat it.
I'm still trying to make out what the dream means. With Qing Ming Festival just round the corner, I think she's asking for more "paper paraphernalia".
For people who do not believe in heaven, hell or purgotary, please reserve your comments.
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