Page 122 - I Live in the Slums: Stories (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)

“When we reach Crow Mountain, you can’t just keep asking questions.”
I thought Qinglian was making it sound like a big deal just to impress me.
Her uncle lived in the basement. Qinglian knocked several times, but he
didn’t come to the door. Qinglian said, “He’s always like this.” She said we
could go inside first and look around. As soon as she touched the door, it
opened. She dragged me in. The door closed with a creak. We could see nothing
inside.
“Qinglian, Qinglian, where are you?”
I sounded like a mosquito; my voice was distorted.
“Juhua, I’m in the mountain valley . . . Take it easy. Just lift your feet high
and walk . . .”
Her answer came from somewhere far away, and I thought she must be

somewhere above me. Was she hanging out with the crows on the fifth floor? I
did exactly as she said, and started lifting my feet and walking. But it seemed as
though my feet were being held in place by a powerful suction on the floor. I
was sweating all over. When I lost heart and stopped trying, Qinglian’s voice
rose again.
“Juhua, there are red cherries here!”
She was still above me. I started trying hard again, and this seemed a little
more effective. The floorboards sounded as though they were cracking, which
frightened me. When we were “horse vaulting” at home, Qinglian was the
“horse” and I vaulted over her. Every time I jumped over her, it felt as though I
were chopping her head off with my legs. The very thought made me tremble.
Now, stamping on the cracked floor was giving me the same feeling. I realized I
had managed to take several steps. My arms flailed in the dark, and I wanted to
hold on to something.
I stepped on a small animal that squealed weakly. Could it be the crow? It
didn’t sound like one. Maybe it was a rat.

“Juhua, you’re on the second floor now. That’s great. The floor tilts to your
right. Can you tell?” Qinglian seemed a little closer as she shouted to me.
“Sort of . . . I guess.”
This time, my voice was back to normal. But I had taken only four or five
steps. How could I have reached the second floor so quickly? And since it was
the second floor of a building, how could there be a slope? She kept telling me to
try harder, and threatened me by saying if I didn’t do so, there would be an
“accident.” So I began lifting my legs high and setting them down, just like a
robot, lifting them up and setting them down. But I wasn’t getting anywhere. I
was back where I had started.
The floor was tilted at an angle, and I slipped and fell. And kept falling.
Where was I? Was that what Qinglian meant when she said there would be an