Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 389

Billy meets his greatest grandfather
Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School, Church, Leonardo - 10
B
illy was 13 and thought that nothing ever happened to him and his life was pretty boring. He and his family
were very poor but could still afford to live in a cheap house. The street they lived in had a great noodle shop
next door, and a steamy old laundry shop he could see from his bedroom window.
One day Billy was getting home from fetching water when he smelled smoke.
He thought it would be better to get home before anything happened, so he ran all the way, but only to find that
his home had burned.
The place was covered with smoke and the floors and walls were black. Everything they owned was either melted
or burned too badly to use.
Billy felt two emotions − sadness and guilt. If he had gotten back sooner with the water, maybe he could have
helped put out the fire and saved the house.
He searched the house to see if his family were still there. His mum and dad and little sister were nowhere to be
found. He was worried and felt butterflies in his stomach when he thought about them.
When he walked up the stairs he hoped to see some sign of his family. When he checked the burned out attic he
saw something shining in the ashes. A beautiful necklace. The chain was made of shiny silver, which made it stand
out in the ashes. The charm had two happy dragons wrapping around a jade stone that was green as an emerald.
He picked it up and put it on. Suddenly the burned out house became dark, and then it was light again. He was in
a green forest. Billy was confused. Where was he?
He decided to start walking and try to find out. He walked out of the forest and eventually came to a big city with
a big wall all the way around it. He went inside the gate to the city and found its name: “Shanghai”.
The place looked very inviting. There were beautiful temples, tall houses and a big palace. The streets were
narrow and made of cobblestone, and lots of shops were painted in different colours. Horses and chariots slowly
trotted by. He could smell the familiar smell of dumplings cooking, just like his old noodle shop, but there were
other nastier smells as well. Things weren’t as clean as his home was.
Then he heard ten thousand marching footsteps getting louder and louder on the stone streets until they made him
hold his hands over his ears. As the soldiers passed by he saw a tall man with a stern face at the front of the army.
The general!
He sat on a big black horse dressed in colourful armour. He had a round face, with white hair and a short white
beard. His eyes were brown and cold, and he looked angry. Very angry.
The general spoke with a very deep voice, almost as deep as a lion’s roar.
He asked “Where did you get that necklace!”
Billy said he had found it in his home, but the old general said that it was a present to his wife and that Billy had
stolen it.
Billy was angry and said no, and the two started arguing like seven-year-olds.
Then Billy blurted out: “Why can’t you get your wife and see for yourself?”
But the old general yelled back: “I don’t have a wife anymore! She is dead!”