Not until the last minutes was she awoken by a nasty bang of her head against the window. The sound vibrated the glass and resounded through her ears. An instant pain gathered in her forehead with dizziness. Half opening her eyes, she slowly adjusted the upper part of her body to the seat. There was a crack, an ache and stiffness in her neck. In less than a minute, the announcer broadcast a rousing alarm. Mei was alert to hear that People’s Square Station was next, where the only Bank of China in town was, and where she planned to withdraw her money. Nervously, she rose, passed some passengers and walked to a pole by the back door. She waited till the bus stopped with a violent quake. The moment her whole face was bathed in the open sunlight, strangely and abruptly, her heart seemed to close. The fi rst stirrings of a sense of guilt gradually made her achingly self-aware, as though the light she was afraid to face earlier had brought her outside into a new, challenging world.