in the face of global environmental change wrought by centuries of human activity?
We can’t do anything to stop the change?
We can’t. There’s nothing we can do.
And the tape spins rewind and time is flat.
Play.
I push myself up with leaden limbs and walk back up the corridor. There are photographs on
the wall, most of them featuring me. Me in my high school graduation photo, my certificate held
so high it covered my smile. Me when I entered university. University graduation, hats flown high
in the clear pale air. In front of the laboratory, when I started working there. And then again,
when I was promoted to senior researcher.
I begin to shake. I turn around.
And the door to my parents’ bedroom is right before me. It is uninhabited, but I hear voices
from within. I had put a cassette player inside this room too, and the past, compressed into reels
of chemical-filmed tape, calls temptingly to me. But I can’t bear to look too long at it, feel a claw
of emotion within trying to pull my eyes shut, twist my head round, force my feet away.
In a sliver of present caught in the past, I rest my head against the door and tumble down the
chasm of my heart. The fall stretches interminably long, and I realise that the darkness around me
is woven of my muffled screams.
A freak snowstorm has been detected approaching Gobi Central City. Citizens are reminded to
keep all windows and doors tightly closed.
Professor, I can’t let you leave the laboratory. It’s too dangerous! We’ve just got to spend the
night here.
Your parents will be fine. Don’t worry about them. Phone lines may be down during the storm,
but I’m sure they’ll be fixed by the next day.
I’m sure they’ll be fixed in a few hours.
I’m sure they’ll be fixed before long.
The switchboard is busy at the moment, but we will do our best to put you through…
Dialling…
Dialling…
Dialling…
There appears to be no answer. Perhaps the people you are trying to contact are unable to take
the call. You might like to try again later.
…
In the aftermath of the sudden snowstorm which ravaged significant sections of the Gobi
Central City, thirty four people have been reported dead and the number is still on the rise…
The tape spins rewind and time is flat.
Play.
* * *
* * *
* * *
