On Chinese New Year's Eve, the Leclair family patriarch gathered the younger generations to keep vigil.
In the middle of the night, as Delphine drifted in and out of sleep, she vaguely sensed someone standing by her bed. She resisted waking up. In her dream, she was returning home from school with her cotton cloth backpack. Her grandmother sat at the alley's entrance, picking greens. Seeing her return, she wiped her hands on her apron, her aged face blooming into a smile. She lovingly patted Delphine's head and said, "Ah Fu, you're back."
A sharp ache tightened around her eyes. Someone gently wiped her tears away, then sighed softly, stroking her head with a tenderness like her grandmother's.
