Ta-wei Chi

First published in Taiwan in 1995, The Membranes is a classic of queer speculative fiction in Chinese. Chi Ta-wei weaves dystopian tropes--heirloom animals, radiation-proof combat drones, sinister surveillance technologies--into a sensitive portrait of one young woman's quest for self-understanding.

The Membranes - a Novel

The ocean surrounded her body but never touched her.

What Momo’s mother told her next was not the simple, perfunctory version of what you learn in sex ed. Instead she explained that a long, long time ago, Mommy had taken a trip with a friend. They were walking along hand in hand in the hills when they came to the base of a peach tree at the top of a knoll. The peaches gave off a mesmerizing scent: to smell them was to go limp with ecstasy. Not worrying about pesticides or being accused of theft, Mommy’s friend asked Mommy to let her stand on her shoulders. With a little teamwork, the crafty pair plucked the biggest peach of all. It was as big as a human head. Mommy was delighted. She told her friend: “In China there’s a legend that ‘peach splitting’—when you share a peach with a friend—is the mark of an extraordinary friendship, the kind that other people wouldn’t understand. Let’s share the peach and bless our friendship!” And so, according to Momo’s mother’s story, the two women split the peach with a knife … never anticipating that, as soon as the knife broke the skin, a shrill wailing cry would burst out of the peach. Inside was a baby! As shocked as they were, both women felt that this tiny baby was destined to be their daughter. It was just like a fairy tale.

“Little Momo thought: When I grow up, I’ll never fight with my friends. I’ll be close with my friends forever.

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“Take your name: ‘Momo.’ It’s so silly. It sounds … yummy.”

Even though she felt a profound sadness, this made her laugh. “Why?”

“When you eat a peach you make a ‘nom nom’ sound! And when you eat a tasty mushroom soup. And when my owner kisses his lover, it’s ‘nom nom’ for most of the day! The lips and tongue must taste delicious.”

Momo rushed to calm the little dog. “Shhhh, Andy. Behave. This is Momo’s mother.”

(Momo almost thought Mother was going to say: Momo, we can go home now. You haven’t been home in so very, very long.)

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