Paper

                                                                                  -         Calherine Lim

Tay Soon and Yee Lian are the main characters of this story. They are husband and wife. 

Tay Soon had a dream of buying a beautiful house. His dream house would be a combination of all the beautiful houses of the island, so it would have all the features of a beautiful house. His house would have aluminum sliding doors, kidney shaped swimming pool, timbered ceiling, paneled walls, sunken circular sitting room with amber carpet, kitchen walls with bright pink paint, etc. He often talked about his dream house with full enthusiasm. Even his wife and children had started talking about the dream house to their relatives and friends.

Tay Soon’s family was living in his mother’s house. It was a small terraced house. His mother sold bottled curries and vegetable preserves. She was so busy that she had no time for dreaming. When she knew about her son’s dream house, she criticized him for having an unnecessary ambition.

Tay Soon and his wife had forty thousand dollars in the bank. So, they were hopeful to be able to buy the dream house very soon. Both of them had good salaries. So, once they were able for the down payment, they would be able to pay off the due over a certain period of ten or fifteen or twenty years.

It was a time of growing interest in the market. One day, Yee Lian suggested her husband that they should invest their money into shares of a company. Within a few days, the price of the shares grew very fast. As they were earning money so fast, Yee Lian urged her sister to invest her money into the business.

Once, Tay Soon sold some of his shares that fetched him a lot of profit. But the very next day, the price of the shares grew up further. Therefore, he felt guilty

of not being patient enough to wait. Then, he vowed that he would never sell his shares.

     As they were making a lot of profit, Tay Soon’s wife went to her mother in law to persuade her to invest in it. But the old lady scolded Tay Soon for being so foolish. On the other hand, both the husband and the wife were more hopeful to be able to buy their dream house.

     After some days, the price of the shares started to go down. Tay Soon became nervous and wanted to sell the shares. But his wife told him not to worry about the fall because it was just a technical fall, she believed. She also informed her husband that OHTE and West Parkes were sure to rise. She was given the information by one of her neighbours, Dr. Soo’s wife. So, Tay Soon sold all his shares and put his money in these two companies. But the companies crashed shortly afterwards. Tay Soon lost all his money. Now, it was impossible for him to buy his dream house.

     Tay Soon went mad. Though a Chinese medicine man treated him, he could not get recovery from his illness. At last, he died.

     After his death, Tay Soon’s mother gave him his dream house. She ordered for a beautiful paper house to a man who was well-known on the island for such a house. It had everything made of paper. When the house was ready, it was brought to Tay Soon’s grave and set on fire there. After three minutes, there was only a heap of ashes on the grave.