Of Flowers, Goldfish, and Light Bulbs 花、金魚與電燈泡

I had a dream where I was volunteering at a Buddhist event, helping to manage the crowd as it dispersed. A young woman came over and handed me a business card with her email address on it, asking me to contact her.

The card was interesting because it had a hole where her photo should have been. I playfully held the card up to my eye and joked, "Is this how you're supposed to look at people?" Everyone around me laughed.

Then the woman disappeared. I asked the others, "Where did the woman who gave me the card go?" Some said they didn’t see her, and others said she had left. I remarked, "How am I supposed to contact her now?" Someone pointed out, "Her email is on the card. You can write to her."

I continued managing the crowd, ensuring everyone boarded the return buses smoothly. Eventually, I got on the bus too.

As the bus was moving, a monk stopped it, and a group of what seemed to be evening school students from a girls' high school boarded. The monk got on with them. The girls were holding flowers—some had cosmos, and others had chrysanthemums.

After they boarded, they placed their things at the back of the bus, near my seat. I noticed the flowers and also some small boxes containing what looked like light bulbs.

As the bus moved along, people got off one by one. I saw the items still sitting there and asked if anyone wanted the flowers. A few people raised their hands, so I passed the flowers to them one by one. I decided to keep a red lily for myself.

Then I asked if anyone wanted the light bulbs. They were in small boxes and seemed well protected, so I thought they could still be useful. But not many people seemed interested. One man, who had already taken a flower, raised his hand, so I tossed a light bulb to him. He caught it. I continued asking if anyone wanted a bulb.

Fewer people wanted the bulbs, and I thought to myself, "What a waste! Maybe I should take them with me."

When the bus reached its destination, people got off one by one. I was about to get off too, but I noticed that the bag the monk had brought on, which originally contained flowers and light bulbs, was now full of fish—various types, mostly goldfish, all orange-red in color. I quickly asked if anyone wanted a fish. Thankfully, a few people did, so I tossed the fish to them as well, giving them to whoever asked.

As the crowd thinned, I realized that while I'd given away many of the fish, there were still several long goldfish left in the bag, resembling koi, in both orange-red and black colors. There were also a few small fish, but the large ones were more challenging to handle. I thought, "Only people with aquariums would want these, and not many homes have aquariums nowadays."

I got off the bus carrying the bag and saw my middle school classmate, May.

As I walked, I suddenly found myself on a flooded street. I thought, "Oh no, my clothes and coat are going to get soaked!" I quickly turned back and entered a building.

May was laughing the whole time, probably finding my situation amusing, but I didn’t want my clothes to get wet! I was holding the bag and the flower in my hands. Inside the bag was an orange custard apple-shaped box that looked like the bumps on the head of a Buddha statue, but it also resembled a torch, with a light bulb inside. There was also a bag of fish. To avoid getting my coat wet, I lifted it up high, which made me look quite ridiculous. No wonder May was laughing so much.

夢見我在一個佛教法會活動當義工，維持散場秩序。有一個小姐過來，遞給我一張名片，上面有她的 Email，要我寫信給她。

她的名片很有趣，上面有一個洞，感覺那個位置應該是放她的照片，可是怎麼變成一個洞、沒有照片。我還故意把那張名片放在我的眼前，讓我可以從這個洞看出去。我搞笑地說：「你看，是這樣子看人嗎？」大家就在笑。

然後那個小姐不見了。我問其他人：「剛剛給我名片的那個小姐呢？」有人說沒看到，有人說她離開了。我說：「欸～那我要怎麼跟她聯絡呢？」有人就翻了那張名片說：「上面有 Email 啊！你可以寫信給她。」

我繼續維持散場秩序，讓人群可以順利搭回程公車。後來我也上了公車。

本來公車行進著，後來有位法師把公車攔下來，上來一群好像是北一女夜間部的學生，法師也跟著他們上車。這些女學生手上都拿著一枝花。有人拿波斯菊，有人拿菊花。她們就這樣子上車。

上車後，她們把東西放在公車後面，就是我座位的旁邊。我看到有一枝一枝的花，還有造型的小盒子，裡面像是燈泡，裝在小盒子裡面。

車子繼續開動，有人陸續下車。我看著這些東西還放在那裡，我問車上乘客有沒有人要花。有人舉手，我就把花一枝一枝傳給那些舉手的人。然後我自己想要留著一枝紅色的香水百合。

我看到那些燈泡，我問有沒有人要燈泡。我想到燈泡都放在小盒子裡，妥善保護著，應該可以用。可是好像沒什麼人要，反正我就一直問。有一個男的舉手，他剛才也有拿花。我就把燈泡丟給他，他接住。我繼續問有沒有人要燈泡。

拿燈泡的人比較少。我心想：「這樣子好浪費喔！那我把燈泡帶走好了。」

然後公車到了目的地，大家陸續下車，本來我也要下車，剛剛本來那個法師拿上來裝著花和燈泡的袋子，後來怎麼變成裡面都是魚，各式各樣的魚，像是金魚，因為他們都是橘紅色的。我趕快問有誰要魚。還好也有人要，我就在公車上把魚丟給他們，反正誰要我就丟給誰。

人都陸續走了，我想說怎麼辦。我雖然送走了不少魚，可是袋子的角落裡還有好幾條長的金魚，有點像是錦鯉，有橘紅色，也有黑色。其實還有幾隻小的魚，可是長的魚比較麻煩。我就想可能做生意的才會有魚缸，現在一般住家有魚缸的也不多，所以不會有人要魚。

我提著這一袋東西下車，我看到國中同學 May。

走著走著，怎麼變成自己走在淹水的路上。我心想：「啊！這樣子我身上的衣服跟大衣就濕了。」我趕快往回走，走進一棟建築物裡面。

May 一直在笑，好像她覺得我的模樣很搞笑，可是我不想弄濕衣服啊！我手上提著袋子還拿著花。袋子裡像是橘色釋迦造型的小盒子，就像是釋迦摩尼頭上那樣一粒一粒的造型，可是又有點像是火炬的造型，裡面放著燈泡。還有一袋的魚。因為我不想讓大衣沾到水，就把它舉得高高的。反正就是很狼狽，難怪 May 會一直笑。