The Man Who Was Milligan

A screen-writer named Milligan becomes fascinated by a Chinese drawing hanging on the wall of his room, representing a Chinaman rowing on a lake. He then notices that the boat is slowly moving towards him, until it eventually arrives in the room. He jumps aboard to be magically transported to China where he becomes a successful businessman under a different name, and no memory as to how he achieved this. Some time later, disbelieving his own memory and doubting his sanity, he tells a friend what he remembers of the story, and asks him to check how many people there are on the boat. At learning that there are now two, he dies of a heart attack.