Crazy Noodle Lady

We were tucking into a couple plastic covid-ready soup containers of noodles and various bits of bok choy and unidentifiable greenery when this asian woman walked by taking slugs from a bottle of white wine -- there was no longer a screw-cap to be found. She pushed a little shopping basket -- more the kind from Trader Joes than Target -- but there wasn't anything in it. And in case it matters, she was wearing a very nice spring dress, and very half-heartedly offered me a swing from her bottle, but pulled it back when I reached for it.

She leaned into my face with something important to say: "You owe your lives to them. You owe your life to them. To them." It never became clear who they might be, but I was thankful. And the noodle soup was damn fine, too.