Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 352

The New Tales of Old Shanghai Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Li, Aiden - 11 I t was another morning in Old Shanghai. The lamps on the street were lit, casting a faint glow on the path. Clothing and food hung from the windows of the apartments above, dangling in the faint breeze. Horsecarts clip-clopped on the lined paths, their hooves making a “clack” sound with every step. Streets filled up with people. Some of them were haggling, some were arguing, and yet others were gossiping. Our story begins in an apartment above a street, where a teen is waking up. “Wake up, sleepyhead; you’ve got jobs to do!” “Coming, Mum!” the little boy replies. He lazily stretches his arms for a while. His hair is shaved in a buzz cut. He wears patched clothing. Suddenly, his eyes fly open.” I’m late!" He runs into the living room, and wants to dash out the door, when a figure stops him. It’s his mother. “Hurry up, or you’ll be late for work!” Teng-hui (The boy) runs out of the door. Teng-hui biked towards the factory he works at. Teng-hui arrived at the factory, and tried to enter using his key. The boss appears suddenly from the other side of the gate. “You’re late! 100 fen off today’s wages!” Teng-hui then reluctantly enters the factory. Teng-hui and his pal Wangjin had forged 14,568 coins for the boss at work. They each received 200 fen for their labors. Their hands were blistered and burned, and they were sweating all over, they had completed their work. They returned home tired but happy. Teng-hui said “I think everything will be same tomorrow.” He had no idea how wrong he was. The next day, Teng-hui was woken up by hagglers downstairs. Teng-hui gazed out of the window and saw a crowd of people below. “What is going on!” he screamed. Downstairs, the shopkeeper replied” The coin mint is closed.” “What happened?” Teng-hui asked. “It was invaded by the Japanese!” said a person. Teng-hui dashed over to Wangjin’s home “Did you hear? The coin mint is closed! So what are we going to do now?” Teng-hui asked. “I don’t know. Maybe… defend our hometown?” “But we’re so young…” Suddenly, they both heard marching sounds come from the direction of the coin mint. They both thought only one thing: “The Japanese are invading!” They dashed into the city and screamed “The Japanese are invading!” Then, they saw a cloud of dust charging towards the inner gates! The soldiers on guard announced “Everybody retreat!” All the civilians dashed towards their homes, Teng-hui and Wangjin included. Soon, most of the Japanese had broken through the gates, killing all citizens in their path. What could possess the Japanese to do such cruel actions, they could only guess… The boys were hiding in Teng-hui’s house. As they squeezed under the bed, Teng-hui found an old spell book. They began to read and learn the spells inside. Suddenly, they heard a voice saying” I will give you some magic tools. Use them wisely.” Then, they saw a chest on the floor, filled with artefacts. They brought it with them as they left the house. Wanting to find out what had happened to the soldiers; The boys used a spell, and found out that the soldiers were controlled by an evil witch. “Why would she do this?” Teng-hui said. They had to stop her. According to the spell book, humans could only be controlled if the conjuror was nearby. They split up and began to look for the witch. Teng-hui went into an abandoned temple. He heard a high pitched cackle, and peeked into the room it came from. He heard the witch say” I sense that somebody has learned magic. I must stop him immediately!” “She must be talking about us!” He thought. He signaled to Wangjin that he had found the witch, and they grabbed some