Dust

A short story of pronounced madness in a modern, mechanical world. A solitary night watchman at a museum faces his own inadequacy when compared with the museum's security system. As he sinks into depression and alcoholism, a woman appears, seemingly from nowhere, and plucks the watchman from despair in order to further her own otherworldly hobby.Chinese wisdom secretly passed through handwritten fortunes influences the lives of two men from different cultures connected by a shared source of enlightenment. Each overcomes adversity to achieve inner awareness through personal journeys. Michael Hamilton, successful San Francisco advertising executive, has his world shattered when he becomes a casualty of the 1994 California recession. He faces a bleak future: unemployed, despondent, and alone. To pull himself together he must overcome emotional obstacles and accept a broader, unconventional vision of reality. A secret mentor guides him as he opens a new business and finds romance with strong-willed, Jennie Greene. Will his fear of commitment once again interfere, keeping him stuck in the painful past? Wu, respected manager of the family-owned Good Fortune Chinese restaurant, enjoys financial security. He has been a loving husband and father, but is at odds with his aging father, Chow Lee Tong, the restaurant's bookkeeper and formerly a great scholar in his youth. Gradually, Wu neglects his wife, Anna and their sons due to his assiduous attention to business. He is too distracted to realize he is putting his marriage in jeopardy and sacrificing his family relationships in his quest for greater wealth. Wu and Michael each face challenges that, like the mirrored images of the Yin/Yang symbol, are identical yet reversed. Good Fortune awaits them, but first they must discover happiness is less tied to outward goals than inner awareness. Tong's gentle wisdom shows them the way.