It’s almost 10 by the time I get to the donut shop. Jacky is nowhere in sight. “Have you seen a girl with blue-green eyes, golden brown hair, and big—” I cup my hands over my chest to illustrate. “She…

I opened my eyes to the sounds of a softly strumming guitar. “You’re awake,” Roi said, turning to me with a gentle smile. “I thought I lost you.” “Is this. . . another dimension?” I asked, gazing about in wonder.…

We arrive in Vientiane as the sun drips pink in its long descent. Purple shadows spread over the yellow butter and creamy French architecture, and the air smells of banana crepes. Tuk-tuks and slow traffic fill the streets, motorbikes piled…

“Zonkers,” I say absentmindedly rolling the crumbs of weed on the dresser into another Vietnamese dollar, lighting it on fire, and watching it burn like old newspaper. “Oh, here are my papers. They were in my pocket the entire time,”…

I woke up with a freshly bandaged hand, wrapped in a blood-stained and somewhat torn parka. Weak sunlight filtered into a diner, empty but for one man. This of course was none other than Mr. Zen. His face was like…

The next morning always hits you as a sort of surprise. You’re somehow still alive. There are greenish-brown flakes all over your clothes and the bed. The room is dark. There’s no view of anything from behind those curtains besides…