I grabbed my rucksack and followed my Canadian colleague BD out the door. If this was the last time that we were together, I wanted to be with him as long as I could. We walked across the big public park, passing the Taiwanese embassy. Opposite the headquarters of Scotia Bank, I waved him off from the bus stop to the airport.

By now, my back was aching from carrying my rucksack. It was only when I opened it to check its contents that I remembered the smooth round rock that I had picked up on the beach. It had taken so long to find that I didn’t want to dump it, so I left it in there and continued walking.

Since I was now so close to the hospital, it seemed sensible to pop in to ask about the bleeding from the scar on my left breast. A fierce, officious nurse saw to me. She was efficient, even if she offered me no sympathy. At the end of my consultation she admonished me for having dumped the contents of my rucksack on the consulting room table, and for inviting a bunch of unruly final year students to clear up my mess.

I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could, but not without my ivory handled cutlery currently laid out on the table as if for a dinner party. I instructed the students to stop fighting, collect the cutlery, and leave.