The Mountain

From an abandoned tape recording:

You might think I’m creepy, future people who find this, but I don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Everyone here is freaking out over Y2K, and I don’t trust anything connected to computers to save this info. I could write this down later – that’s a plan – so maybe this isn’t such a bad idea. And J. said she’d call me soon so that we could head up. But let me talk about what’s happening here.

We are in Tokyo and we are panicking. I have never seen that many people worried about one thing at once: managers; teachers; students; staff; the guys who deliver papers and packages (I can translate the basics and it would be funny if it wasn’t happening to all of us); the people in the cafes and izekayas and…other places (I should really check on K.; not a word from him after this all started to roll up and turn out so ugly). Everyone is talking about the computers shutting down at the end of the year. It’s a new millennium…for some (I don’t want another argument over whether or not 2000 or 2001 is the start of a new century). It’s a new problem for the rest of us. One thing I noted when I came over to teach two years ago was the fact that the ATMs did not run twenty-four hours a day. Unbelievable, I thought. And we just got paid before this whole thing started, so I had to make sure to get there on my day off and see…lines. Guess I’m not the only one who thinks that the machines will shut down right across all the banks and institutions. Some of the other teachers in my house sent money home by Lloyd’s, but I don’t see the point. One bank isn’t gonna have a better solution than…

Oh, J.’s at the door. Will finish this later…

Out.

*

Same day recording (no timestamp):

J.’s smarter than I’ll ever be. She did the same thing with her money, but she put away a huge pile of supplies at her place. We stopped there before the big trip and I was amazed at the bottle of green and oolong tea, boxes of noodles, bags of rice, and all the other goodies she had stored in the kitchen and the front room (odd place for all that candy, but who am I to say a thing about this?) She told me that she was lucky not to live with roommates and that she was freelancing, so the money came in earlier and she did not have to wait in line for it. And she also had time to put things together in a backpack “for the end of the world”. We both laughed about that…

Excuse me… Gotta catch my breath…

We did walk from her place to the mountain and, I don’t know why I thought this way, I really believed the hike there would be the hard part. Every time I visit, I see that peak in the background and it looks like it is a lifetime away. J. tells me how she runs to it, hikes up once or twice and week – up and down – and then runs home. And she teaches like me. She knows that I think running is something you do when you catch fire or have a gold medal at stake for your country, so she did take it easy on me when we walked there. But once we got to the foot of the mountain, she handed me these collapsible ski poles and told me to use them.

“They are the best way to get to where you are going.”

Ah, and I think I’ve got my breath back.

That must have been almost twenty minutes of walking (a ten-minute run for her?) And I’m standing on the edge of fenced-in spot, staring at the lights to the east as she sets up a little camp for us to eat and observe.

And I had better be honest about it.

The crush hasn’t gone away.

Man, I hope that she never hears these tapes…or finds my journal… Or even talks to K. (did call him; he seems alright in Jimbocho; plenty to read there, I guess; smart to be a bookworm in the middle of this). I still wonder if she has a clue about my feelings…and…

I have been summoned for dinner… A last supper?

Ha, ha.

Out.

*

Last section (some information added):

Okay, J. is beginning to wonder about what’s going on with me. I just took off to take a leak and she can see that I am keeping my things with me as I find a bush. My plan now is to just keep the tape running and see what happens.

All right. Here it goes.

(some audio trouble)

“You sick or something?”

“No, just nervous about things.”

“I’m not a thief, by the way.”

“No, I know. I just wanted to get my head together.”

“Is it coming apart?”

“Yeah. Ha, ha… What do you think is gonna happen after midnight?”

…

“Honestly, I don’t think much. I just thought it would be nice to get out of the house and see the rest of the town from here. No one comes up here on New Years. They are all at the temples chanting and praying. Most people leave to see family and friends, too. All my students are gone; some of the other teachers chickened out and headed home. Must be fun when you live in Australia…”

“Ha. My house, too. Some people did get out.”

“Right? Like that would make any difference. I just hope…”

“Hope what?”

“I just hope K.’s okay.”

“I tried calling him. He’s staying in Jimbocho. Said he doesn’t see the point in celebrating, what with the world ending…”

(sound muffled; a bit harder to hear)

“What…?”

“Sorry, you don’t even know about us.”

“Us?”

“Me and K. He said that he would be here and that we would all celebrate together.”

…

“You and K.?”

“Yeah, about five months. Never said a word about it to anyone because, why bother? He’s not the type to brag about it. Or to tell his friends.”

“Yeah, his friends…”

…

“You angry?”

“A little. If you both are together, and you are both friends of mine…”

“Yeah, we kept you out of the loop. At least you’re not telling me about a deep crush you had…”

“Right.”

…

“You’re not…?”

“Oh, come on. I would have told ya by now…”

“Okay.”

“And the world’s about to end”

“Okay.”

“Best time would be now.”

“…Okay.”

“Right. Let’s just see what’s gonna happen.”

“O…kay.”

“This jacket’s too heavy anyway. Need to feel something tonight. We should probably keep drinking until we forget this night.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“You’re just… You got close.”

“Shh…”

“I’m…”

“Happy Y2K to you…”

…

(message ends there)