was Reiko Matsusaka who had introduced Alice to the therapy. She was a translator and professor at a women’s university in Tokyo. Years earlier, Alice and Reiko had collaborated on the translation of one of Ming’s novels into Japanese. Both young scholars with a fervent passion for literature, the two of them had become online friends, meeting to discussthe intricacies of Chinese–Japanese translation. For instance, Reiko couldn’t understand the idiomatic Taiwanese expression “make-it-big-truck,” so Alice explained how Taiwanese people bought small trucks in the hopes of striking it rich and even asked the author how many cubic feet the engine would have and what model it might be on her behalf. Alice also guessed at the particulars of the male characters in the novel, because Reiko told her there were several different ways for a Japanese man to say “I.” It was so much more complicated than in Chinese.
Reiko gave Alice a Skype call after learning of her situation from a fellow scholar. At first Alice refused even to consider the therapy, but then something Reiko said changed her mind. “The dream grabber won’t solve your problems for you, but it seems that quite a number of people discover little clues or issues that make life worth living again.”
Despite years of correspondence, Alice’s trip to Tokyo was the first time they met in the flesh. Reiko had a round face, a medium build and a very Japanese smile. A bit eccentric, she wore a pair of glasses with molded plastic frames (though for all Alice could tell they could be expensive handmade spectacles) along with a pair of rather sexy fishnet stockings. To Alice the outfit seemed extremely mismatched. Surprisingly few scholars floating around in fishnets, are there?
The therapy was supposed to take a whole week. On the first day a session with a psychologist was scheduled. That evening, Alice stayed at the clinic, which was just like being in a five-star hotel, except with brainwave detectors in the pillows and the mattress. The second and third days it was just like being on vacation. She revisited Yoyogi Park and the Ueno Zoo. She also wanted to go back to the Tamagawa Zoo, where she had taken Toto, but unfortunately they were closed for some animal escape drill. On the fourth day Alice’s dreamscape data from the first three nights was compiled.
Alice regretted coming as soon as she saw her dreamscape. The doctor and technicians could not decipher the dots and lines on the screen, but Alice could. That is the way memory works: often you’re the only one who can recognize what something means. The dreamscape viewing was supposed to be followed by a session with an experienced counselor, butAlice simply said farewell to Reiko and caught a flight back to Taiwan instead. Reiko did not particularly ask Alice why she was leaving so suddenly when she saw her off at the airport. Alice just noticed she had changed into a pair of extremely eye-catching purple pantyhose.
Alice woke up from the dream they’d recorded in the clinic in Tokyo. Still half asleep, she saw from the clock over the bed that it was about four in the morning. Ohiyo was sound asleep. Do cats ever need a lot of sleep! Ohiyo was sleeping by a digital album she had knocked over. Alice did not have to look to know it was the album beginning with one of Toto’s baby pictures. Alice tried stretching out her hand to get at it without waking Ohiyo but could not get at it. She could only play the images she knew only too well in her mind’s eye. It occurred to her that Toto might just be sealed off in a deathless world somewhere, that he might be alive as if in a photograph, in a place death could never enter. Was Toto somewhere like that, carrying his specimen case as he searched for something he had never seen before?
8. Rasula, Rasula, Will You Really Go to Sea?
Before Atile’i went to sea, Rasula prepared a bottle of fine
kiki’a
wine, a local delicacy women and children made by
Reiko gave Alice a Skype call after learning of her situation from a fellow scholar. At first Alice refused even to consider the therapy, but then something Reiko said changed her mind. “The dream grabber won’t solve your problems for you, but it seems that quite a number of people discover little clues or issues that make life worth living again.”
Despite years of correspondence, Alice’s trip to Tokyo was the first time they met in the flesh. Reiko had a round face, a medium build and a very Japanese smile. A bit eccentric, she wore a pair of glasses with molded plastic frames (though for all Alice could tell they could be expensive handmade spectacles) along with a pair of rather sexy fishnet stockings. To Alice the outfit seemed extremely mismatched. Surprisingly few scholars floating around in fishnets, are there?
The therapy was supposed to take a whole week. On the first day a session with a psychologist was scheduled. That evening, Alice stayed at the clinic, which was just like being in a five-star hotel, except with brainwave detectors in the pillows and the mattress. The second and third days it was just like being on vacation. She revisited Yoyogi Park and the Ueno Zoo. She also wanted to go back to the Tamagawa Zoo, where she had taken Toto, but unfortunately they were closed for some animal escape drill. On the fourth day Alice’s dreamscape data from the first three nights was compiled.
Alice regretted coming as soon as she saw her dreamscape. The doctor and technicians could not decipher the dots and lines on the screen, but Alice could. That is the way memory works: often you’re the only one who can recognize what something means. The dreamscape viewing was supposed to be followed by a session with an experienced counselor, butAlice simply said farewell to Reiko and caught a flight back to Taiwan instead. Reiko did not particularly ask Alice why she was leaving so suddenly when she saw her off at the airport. Alice just noticed she had changed into a pair of extremely eye-catching purple pantyhose.
Alice woke up from the dream they’d recorded in the clinic in Tokyo. Still half asleep, she saw from the clock over the bed that it was about four in the morning. Ohiyo was sound asleep. Do cats ever need a lot of sleep! Ohiyo was sleeping by a digital album she had knocked over. Alice did not have to look to know it was the album beginning with one of Toto’s baby pictures. Alice tried stretching out her hand to get at it without waking Ohiyo but could not get at it. She could only play the images she knew only too well in her mind’s eye. It occurred to her that Toto might just be sealed off in a deathless world somewhere, that he might be alive as if in a photograph, in a place death could never enter. Was Toto somewhere like that, carrying his specimen case as he searched for something he had never seen before?
8. Rasula, Rasula, Will You Really Go to Sea?
Before Atile’i went to sea, Rasula prepared a bottle of fine
kiki’a
wine, a local delicacy women and children made by
Similar Books
