The evening air was cool. I was sitting at an intersection of Roosevelt Road and a brick road next to a musical instrument shop. The piano melody of “Thanksgiving” played in my head, putting me in a meditative mood as I took a few soft drags from a cigarette and reflected on the five years that had passed since I’d left home for Taipei. People had come into my life and left without a trace. Late at night, I sat in a desolate corner of the city, dispatching lone smoke signals.