Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 345

During the next few days, Thomas pretended to be sick and refused to go to battle. That annoyed General Chen a
lot. Finally, Chen could not stand it anymore. He stormed into Thomas’ cabin yelling, ”Thomas, I’ve had it
with you! Why are you hiding from the battles? Are you scared? Well, the army does not accept cowards! ”
“But, sir…” Thomas stabbered.
“I said Get out!” Chen roared.
In misery, Thomas quickly packed his belongings and fled. In the distance, he could still hear the voice of Chen,
“Never come back!” Thomas wandered around the streets, clueless about what to do next. He suddenly
remembered that grandmother was still at home, panicking. He rushed home as fast as he could, only to find out
that grandmother’s house was totally destroyed. However, he couldn’t see some of grandmother’s belongings,
which was a good sign. Maybe his grandmother fled a long time ago! There was still hope.
Thomas searched. He searched on the streets, in the alleys, in the shops, everywhere. He met his neighbors, his
childhood mates, but he had no time to stop by. He asked everyone he met about grandmother, but there were no
clues, no signs. Then Thomas thought of one place – one place that grandmother might be staying at. Her friend
Veronica’s house! Veronica lived very far away from the city, where the Japanese had not attacked yet. Though
the power had already drained away from his body, Thomas ran with all his might. Luckily someone saw him and
gave him a ride. He was there in twenty minutes.
And of course, there she was, as Thomas predicted. He ran to give her a big hug and told her what had happened,
from when he left till then. Then Thomas said,” You are my only relative. I would never, ever leave you again.”