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And then she was gone. Ted left the trays in the kitchen and rushed back to the dining room. He wanted to find out her last name and her dorm, for future reference. But Maya was nowhere in sight. Another waiter passed by, and Ted pulled him aside. ” he asked. “In a waitress uniform? ” “Okay, thanks anyway,” Ted said, but he didn’t understand how Jack could have missed Maya. He asked the other employees, too, and got the same negative reply. That’s how it always seemed to be, a series of sudden appearances and inexplicable vanishings, with Ted as the only witness.

To Ted, the place looked like paradise, an earthly scene of heaven, a land of pure wonder. The bus passed by several grand buildings that reminded him of Swiss chalets he’d seen in pictures, and then it came to a stop beside the largest building in the valley. It looked to be made of rough redwood. Ted got off the bus, walked straight to the side of the building, and then inexplicably reached out to scratch his fingernail across the surface, feeling a sense of surprise. The dreamscape changed, and Ted saw himself wearing some sort of uniform.

I mean, a book of pictures of the people I know sure wouldn’t look like this. ” “Oh, I know all sorts of people,” Maya laughed. ” She stopped the page to point at a particular picture of a man. “For instance, look at him,” she told Ted. ” Maya asked. “It’s simple,” Ted shrugged. “Just look at his eyes. ” “From what I know of him, you’re correct,” Maya smiled. She turned to another photo, this one showing a more mature woman. “This is the mother of one of my friends,” she explained. ” Ted studied the picture a moment and then sighed.