Page 60 - Contrast2012

Charles Mullin

Vented

Man proposes and God disposes...
- Old Mandarin Proverb

I walk down the long, white corridor towards the blinking red light in
the distance. I rub my eyes, trying to wipe away my exhaustion. 2:30 in
the morning. This is way too early for this kind of shit.

Passing by the Plexiglas windows, Isee the world Ilive in now;
The blackness of space greets me. The slowly spinning image of Earth
peeks above the bottom of the window frames. Hurricanes and storm.
clouds dot the atmosphere, obscuring the land below, my home, China.
Ipicture my family, huddled in a storm shelter or the university's gym-
nasium, in heavy blankets and weak candles.

"Kaneda!" barks the transmitter clipped on my collar. "You fix
that decompression foul-up yet?"

Iam reminded of all the times Iheard my father screamed
at me as if I didn't do my chores, didn't stay after school for tutoring,
brought a bad grade, stayed out late with friends, watched too much
television, didn't eat enough vegetables, didn't get into the universities
he wanted, didn't make the friends he wanted, didn't live the life he
wanted. A proud member of the Waki family, he said I needed to be.

58 I contrast