Hi, Woodstock. This one is a little tricky because the narrator waits until halfway through the story to reveal that it's actually a dream. The key lines are: "Maybe it wasn't that I'd forgotten how to get there. Maybe it was simply that, in the inexplicable manner of dreams, I'd actually gotten there without traversing the vaguely-remembered hallways and stairs."

It's understandable that this would be difficult to accurately translate. (I think it's probably true that the more subtle the writer tries to be, the more difficult it is to translate.) But a key to understanding the writer's purpose in speaking to us from a dream is the reference to the soapbox racer as a "time machine."

In a way, our memories and dreams are also "time machines" which take us to places, people, and events that we can no longer reach by ordinary means. And our dreams have a way of warping reality to perhaps reveal meanings contained by those same people, places, and events which we might not have realized, or been willing to confront, in our waking lives.

Thank you for commenting and for being interested enough to seek clarification. I hope this helps...