I come alert in a large place like a resort. It's as if coming out of a blackout, like the time before this moment is lost in a fog. I'm sitting at a table with my friends Scott and Mark in a huge atrium. I check my watch; it's 3am. Ok, it's after hours, we won't be able to get any more alcohol. I go to the bar anyway to see if I can just get a soft drink, but then return to the table reporting that the bar is completely closed, like even the windows and doors cover up like there is nothing there.

So I decide to go to the gift shop, which is on one side of the atrium, adjacent to where the bar was, for some snacks, and maybe I can get a bottled drink there. I go in the nearest door, and just around the corner are some displays with snack items. I want the usual, pepperoni and maybe Fritos. I see some Slim Jims (pepperoni sticks a couple feet long, common in quick-stop stores around here), and that sounds perfect. But think I bought one here once before without checking the price, and it was ridiculous, like $15 (around $3 would be fair). I try to check the price; there are several tags on it that look like price tags, but whatever is printed on them is not decipherable to a price. I think I decide not to buy it, and continue looking for bottled pop.

The gift shop is huge, with aisles and aisles of knick-knacks and 'keepsakes'. I think this will be my last chance to get something for Victoria for her birthday (my stepdaughter; her real-life birthday is just a couple days away). What would she want from here? Well I should look, maybe they have a little glass Golden Retriever or something.