Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 344

World War II
Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Cheung, Ethan - 11
T
oday, the Japanese army declared war on Shanghai. They have captured many important cities and harbours
across the country, including Beijing. Sooner or later, Shanghai will also be captured by the Japanese. The
government is urgently searching for men who would like to be in the army to defend Shanghai…”
In desperation, Thomas turned off the radio. He was born in England, but his parents died when he was young.
He moved to Shanghai to live with his grandmother. He sold rice to make a living, while his grandmother weaved.
Time flew, and Thomas had turned 20. After hearing the radio, he approached his grandmother saying, “Grandma,
I know it’s difficult for you to take care of me, but I want to join the army. You can take care of yourself better
than I can. I must go to defend my city, my country – even if it means death. Please – let me go.”
“But you have no experience in combat or battles!” Grandmother replied, “The army does not have the time to
train people like you to fight! After you’re fully trained, Shanghai would already be captured. No, you can’t go.
And that’s that.”
For the next few days, Thomas did not eat or sleep. He thought about the war day and night. He wondered why
grandmother would not let him join the army. Was she protecting him? One silent night Thomas could not stand
it anymore. He packed all the things he needed, left a letter for grandmother, and quietly sneaked out of the house.
He was totally unaware about what he would face before he stepped out of the doorway. First of all, he didn’t
know where the army was. It was midnight, so there was no one he could ask for help. He searched all of the
places in the city, passing old, dusty houses and finally saw some camouflage tents in the woods. Thomas didn’t
dare to wake the soldiers up, so he waited until dawn arrived.
The second problem was Thomas didn’t know that the general of the army was not very nice. He questioned
Thomas’ ability. “You have no experience in combat. You never even seen any sort of weapon, much less use it. I
would rather continue selling rice if I were you.” Chen had said. But Thomas did not give up. “Look, sir. I know
I’m not the sharpest tool in the box, but I really want to join the army. Please – just let me try.” Finally Chen was
moved, allowing Thomas to join squadron E-43.
Thomas forgot all about his grandmother, but she was worried to death. She panicked, muttering to herself,” I
should have let him go. I could have packed all the equipment that he needed. He doesn’t know a lot about the
outside world, how dangerous it is. Now he is out there, all alone, not knowing what to do. My, on my…”
After making friends in the squadron, he started his first day of training. He learnt fast, unexpectedly. Soon, he was
as skilled as the other soldiers in his squadron. At night, the army’s base was attacked by the ferocious Japanese.
Thomas got to his feet and told the other soldiers about the attack. He ran like a cheetah, racing to the weaponry
to grab his weapon. But he found that the Japanese had taken all the weapons. The thief was not far away, and
Thomas flew into a rage, hurling a brick at the thief, killing him. This eventually caused the defeat of the Japanese.
All the soldiers cheered for him, even General Chen congratulated him. The army threw an enormous party to
celebrate, but Thomas did not eat or drink anything. He was deep inside his thoughts.
Back in his cabin, Thomas whispered to himself, “I stopped a threat to my country, and I should be proud of it!
But I killed someone. Even if he was someone who wanted to kill me, he was still a human. I’ve done something
against humanity! I should’ve listened to grandmother and stayed at home! Oh, may god forgive me…”