Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 287

The New Tale of Old Shanghai
Kowloon Tong School (Primary Section), Cao, Jenny – 9
I
n the year of 3017, all the people on earth are united together. They speak the same language-Earthish. They
live in peace and never fight against each other. No one is really rich or really poor. No one has any memory
about the past. They all live happily every day.
In a big city named Shanghai, the King and the Queen live with their lovely son, Prince Jamie. Jamie is a super
smart boy who is really into science. In fact, he is so obsessed with all sorts of high technologies. At the age of 10,
Jamie even built his very first time machine!
“Mom! Dad! I’m going out!” shouted Jamie in Earthish one sunny afternoon. No need to ask, the King and
Queen knew that he is going to play with his best friend-robot Leo. However, that is not what Jamie planned to
do. After a long preparation, he is finally ready to test his time machine! How exciting!
In a secret room at the back yard of the King’s palace, an oval shaped shiny vehicle is hidden. This is the time
machine that Jamie spent the whole year to build. Now he almost couldn’t wait to ride on it! He hopped in and
pressed the BACKWARD button, which will take him back to the past. Old Shanghai, a place Jamie always
wanted to visit, is waiting for him ahead!
In just a few minutes, Jamie arrived in the middle of an old street. When the time machine stopped automatically,
Jamie knew that he already travelled back to the Old Shanghai. Immediately, he is surrounded by a group of
children who speak a strange language that Jamie doesn’t understand. However, Jamie is well prepared for this. He
took out his smartphone and clicked on a App called “Universal Translator”, which allows him to speak any kind
of foreign language. “Hi!”, said Jamie to the kids, “My name is Jamie. I just want to know more about you and
your life in Old Shanghai.” Most of the kids were so frightened about the strange machine and ran away. Only
two brave girls stayed behind. “Hey stranger, my name is Mia. This is my sister Lia. Welcome to Shanghai!” Jamie
gave the girls a big smile and he said, “Nice to meet you. May I visit your home?”
Mia and Lia took Jamie to their house. Jamie looked around the room, “Where is your TV?” The girls looked
confused, “What is a TV?” This time Jamie was confused, “You don’t know what’s TV?” Later, Jamie wanted to
use the bathroom. Mia took him to a small room that really stinks! Jamie looked everywhere to find the flush
button but he couldn’t find it! How awful is that!
They decided to play a game together. Jamie said, “Let’s play video games, or play with your robot.” Again, the
girls know nothing about those too. They suggested to play hide and seek with other kids. Jamie loves to play hide
and seek. However, in his game, the hiders need to put on a uniform that make them invisible and the seeker
needs to feel the hiders using his super detector. As expected, Jamie had to play the game in the most ancient way
and he actually enjoyed it.
Time flies fast and it is dinner time. Mia and Lia need to help their mom with cooking. Jamie followed them
because he really wanted to know how people cook in Old Shanghai. Instead of using super energy and electricity,
they set fires using logs and coals. No electric cooker or microwaves are used. Jamie even learned how to set the
fire in the stove from Mia! What an interesting experience!
A few hours later, the kids were back to play tag and skipping rubber bands while the grown-ups were cooling
down and chatting under the trees. Suddenly, Jamie realized it’s already too late and he needs to go back to his
home. “May I call a Tram to take me to my time machine?” asked Jamie. “We don’t have that, but we have horse
carriage that can take you there.” It is the first time that Jamie ride a carriage like this. Although it is much slower
than his super tram, he gets to see all the beautiful views along the way. He took lots of photos of Old Shanghai
and he is ready to surprise his parents when he gets home.
Later that night, Jamie is lying on his comfy bed. He couldn’t go to sleep as he is still thinking about all he has
experienced during the day in the Old Shanghai. Suddenly he got an idea. “Cool! Now I know so much about the
past of Shanghai. Why don’t I write a book and tell everyone else about all these?”.
He got up and started typing the title on his computer: “The New Tale of Old Shanghai……”