Asian Holiday

I am steaming down a river in Asia in a giant American military ship. Little wooden boats scatter around us & trail off after us as we pass. The sailors seem concerned that we might come under attack from guns on the shore. Just as I am wondering, "what am I doing on a military boat anyway?" we dock at a tiny village and some friends and I disembark to do some touristing.

The village is all little bamboo & wood houses jumbled together with dirt floors and people cooking on open fires. I feel culture shocked being there, wondering how the people feel about being visited by a dozen curious people off a military ship, but the women are very hospitable. They lead our group out to a pretty hillside and we have a barbeque. I take lots of pictures.

Suddenly I see someone I know sitting by a bonfire - a friend who suddenly stopped talking to me a few years ago. Another woman is taking pictures of him, and suddenly I am very jealous. I feel boring beside this bold woman. I go off by myself and sit on a slope looking at a gorgeous view of emerald waters and misty mountains. Children go tumbling down the hill around me, laughing.