End of Tape
Peak School, Justin Lee, Fiction: Group 2
J
oshua first noticed the man in black when he was at the fruit section of the supermarket.
He continued, into the meats section, and the man in black was still there. Joshua
panicked. He walked faster, taking every shortcut he knew and twisted and turned
through the winding pathways until he reached the counters. The man in black was right
behind him. The man approached and Joshua ran, he ran and ran until he tripped on a loose step
and fell down a wide staircase and blacked out.
The next thing Joshua knew, he was in a hospital. Beside him, was his father, Constable Wu.
“You’ll be alright in a matter of time” he explained, “Doctor Smith will take good care of you.”
A man with a beard approached, and explained that he was Doctor Smith. “I hope you’ll one day
come to my department, in psychology to see my office and patient-room.” Doctor Smith later
chatted to the Constable, talking about his special interest in hypnotism. Joshua sat upright in
bed, eating porridge and having warm milk. After a few minutes with the constable, Doctor Smith
left and kept a nurse on call near the room, just in case Joshua had any problems. Another nurse
brought in some snacks and books for him. Joshua lifted a magazine about Mongolia and gazed at
the front cover. Something triggered a feeling in the front cover. He looked at the forlorn temple,
the ancient lake and the little trees, and imagined the long-lost explorers that had been there.
“Joshua! Joshua!” Joshua awoke from his dream to face reality. Constable Wu was beside him,
with the nurse. Outside, the sky was dark. Joshua had fallen asleep. “I have to tell you that when
you were asleep, over the last few days, you were muttering and shouting mostly,” Constable Wu
explained. “We must bring you to Doctor Smith”, said the Constable. And so they did. As they
entered the clinic, Dr.Smith instructed Joshua to lie down on a recliner and be relaxed. Dr.Smith
started the hypnotising procedure. Time passed, and when Joshua woke up, it was already dark.
“You did very well for a first session”, Dr.Smith said. “Why don’t you take a rest, and we’ll play
the tape tomorrow.”
The next day, Dr.Smith played the tape:
Smith: “Why do you like the photo so much?”
Joshua: “The temple with the crescent lake appeared in my travels. I hand-built the temple
with my family. Imagine me, famous Ah Li who built the temple by the lake”
Smith: “Where is the temple?”
Joshua/Ah Li: “It’s in the Gobi desert, of course”
Smith: “Tell me more about yourself”
Joshua/Ah Li: “ I am Ah Li, a Chinese painter. I am sixty-six this year. I travel with my family.”
Smith: “Tell me about your travels.”
Joshua/Ah Li: “I was born in the Heilongjiang province, near Harbin. We loved the ice
festivals with the tall ice pagodas and the amazing ice sculptures. We loved the Khleb and
charcoal smoked red sausages. It warmed us in the extreme temperatures. One morning, father
woke us up very early in the morning. “Wake up, Ah Li!”, he bellowed “Go eat some Khleb and
then wake up your sister!” I took a small chunk of Khleb and banged my gong. “Mei Mei, wake up
now!.” “Yes, Yes” she replied, lazily trudging out of bed. “We’re going to leave here today” father
said. He and Ah Wang, the servant had walked out, carrying huge bags. Ah Wang let me hold
