I woke as a potted plant, having been told I’d grown up overnight in the hallway. Someone had been thoughtful enough to place me in an orphanage and to put a small plate beneath me to catch the water.

My first thought was to make a video of the event, as visual imagery now has a far brighter future than do words, though I still believe that when the history book is written words will be much more valuable.

Hallway in the author's home and the mysterious new houseplant there, discovered shortly after reading the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, San Francisco, September 14, 2017.