Dream d3670-s: Placed in the Open Palm

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where I came to the door of the receiving house on the second lane, and a worker was already at the threshold, the door held open, as though the sound of my step on the lane stones had traveled through the wall ahead of me.

She had a worn travelling bag resting on the stone between us, its external pockets sewn flat against the sides, each fastened with a brass button. I held out the account pages - three folded sheets, the top one carrying the score tallies in two columns - and she received them with both hands, flat, the way you take something that might be fragile.

She didn't read them immediately. She tucked them under one arm and drew from the bag's front pocket a small envelope, creased at one corner. She placed it in my open palm.

Light. The way a thing is light when it holds paper and nothing else.

I looked at it. Her office name was written on the outside in a careful upright script I didn't recognize as hers - probably whoever had assembled the packet before she set out. I didn't open it on the threshold.

She said: some of this will need more time.

She turned the top account page over to check the back. It was blank. She turned it back.

I put the envelope in my coat pocket. She unfolded the first page and held it toward the daylight coming through the door. The columns were small but legible. She moved one finger across the top line without reading it aloud.

Above the eave of the lane wall, a pale moth had settled on the stone and was sitting motionless in the light. I watched it while she read. When she refolded the page and turned back to the bag, the moth lifted once, turned in a slow arc, and was gone.

The bag had a second compartment she didn't open. The envelope in my pocket held whatever it held. Neither of us said anything more about the return.

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Artwork instructions

IMAGE PROMPT: pixel art a human worker framed by an open doorway in Rowanbrook, receiving the answer, working hands and a worn travelling bag, muted slate and ochre, soft daylight, 8-bit style