Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 501

The Time Capsule
Victoria Shanghai Academy, Ing, Lauren – 10
I
slowly opened my eyes, bleary from sleep, but could still vaguely see the same old painting hanging across from
the bed. I sighed, feeling slightly fed up, and quickly averted my gaze to look at the alarm clock next to
me. The date on the clock displayed 4 March - that meant it was my 18 birthday!
th
th
I sat up in my bed in a flash, excitement flooding me. I jumped out of bed, thrilled. Suddenly, I stopped as I
noticed something by the door - a large... box?
I walked slowly towards it. A small piece of paper was stuck to the front...
To our beautiful Lily,
On your first birthday 17 years ago, we decided that instead of a birthday present, we would prepare a special gift
for your 18th birthday - a time capsule. We knew that you were, at the time, too young to cherish or properly
enjoy things in life, so that year, we decided to gather as many of your relatives and friends as we could. We
asked them to write you a letter or leave a present for you that we could keep until you turned 18 years old, and
we would give them to you when you would be more likely to appreciate them. Now that you have reached this
milestone, we are ready to give you this special time capsule. We want you to know that you are loved by all
these special people.
Love,
Mum and Dad
A strong wave of happiness mixed with curiosity swept over me. I smiled, and started slowly shuffling through
the box...
Some of the letters made me laugh (especially one from my aunt!), some left me with a warm feeling of
contentedness, and some even brought tears to my eyes. Finally, after flipping through the box, at the bottom
was one from someone I had no recollection of - my great-grandmother, who passed away when I was very
little. My interest piqued; I picked it up and started reading with wide-eyed fascination…
Dear Lily,
I am very old now, so I probably won’t live until your 18 birthday. However, I would like to tell you that I will
always love you and watch over you. You probably don’t know much about me, so I think that you deserve to
know my story.
th
I was born in Giverny, France in 1912. I had a happy life there, but when I was 11 years old, my father made a
decision that would change our lives forever - we moved to the French Concession in Shanghai, a section of
Shanghai that France had taken over in 1849. We settled in one of the areas in the French Concession called
Avenue Joffre, which was outside the walled Old Shanghai City - that was still ruled by the Chinese.
It didn’t take long before my mother started to take me on trips to the Old Shanghai City. We frequently visited a
restaurant called the Nanxiang Bun Shop. Since the first time I went there, I fell in love with their Xiao Long
Bao - delicious Chinese pork buns filled with soup. They were the most delightful and mouth-watering
delicacies I had ever tasted, and after trying them once, I couldn’t help going back to the city every week to have
more!
On my trips there, I gradually noticed your great-grandfather. He always came to the bun shop too, and we
started to become best friends. When we had free time, I liked taking him to visit my favourite churches in the