Page 143 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

If so, could one say that this senior citizens center had been built for this
colleague, too? This ordinary, six-story gray structure attracted no attention on
the street. Every morning, a janitor opened the main door and cleaned all
the rooms, as well as the corridor and staircase. Because this building had only
one staircase and twelve apartments, the janitor would wrap up her work by
noon. The main door stood open. The female janitor, wearing a rat-gray uniform,
always waited until late at night to lock up. The next day she reopened it at

dawn. Ms. Wen wondered why she would rush over here late each night to lock
up. Ever since her colleague had pointed out that this building had probably been
constructed for her—Ms. Wen—Ms. Wen had grown more suspicious. Could
the janitor be leaving the door unlocked for her? This thought horrified her.
In the past few years, Ms. Wen had become more and more composed. She
thanked the sinking exercise for this. That was because as soon as her body sank
downward, her thoughts rose—as free as a bird flying in the sky. At such times,
her misgivings about the janitor also disappeared, even though she had met her
once late at night and been subjected to her questioning. The more she
performed the sinking exercise, the more adept she became—almost reaching
the point where she could sink or rise just by thinking about it. At the beginning,
she had done this by herself, and the exercise had also been restricted to the

room she was in—usually the one for chess. Later, after all the walls and ceilings
had scattered, when she came and went and whirled freely in midair, it seemed
the whole building became transparent and was an extension of her body. She
carried this intangible building everywhere she went. In other words, the very
existence of this building depended upon her. When she wasn’t thinking about it,
the building disappeared; and when she gave it all her attention, the structure
once again appeared clearly. This pastime was great fun. One time, she even ran
into her son Feng in the corridor. Her son was wearing mountaineering clothes,
as if he were going far away. “Feng, were you looking for me?” “Yes. They said
that you were climbing up. I, too, want to enjoy the scenery up there, and so I
came here. But how high is it? I can’t see it.” “Who can see it all of a sudden?
You can experience it only while you’re climbing. Let’s turn to the right. There
must be a roof garden in front of us. Oh, this side is the left, this side the right.”
“In this kind of place, Mama is still hanging onto her senses. That’s really
impressive.” Before she realized it, Ms. Wen had walked out the main door with
her son. That’s all Ms. Wen could remember. Later, her son admitted to her that

he had been terrified by the height of the transformative building, and had
wanted to give up. Then he took hold of Ms. Wen’s arm as they went down.
After this, Feng didn’t bring up the incident again. Maybe he thought it better
not to speak of it.
The senior citizens recreation center was Ms. Wen’s secret, but it also seemed