Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 575

New Tales of Old Shanghai: Those Who Were Forgotten
Ying Wa Primary School, Wong, Cheuk Yin – 10
B
ombers soared over the blazing Shanghai downtown. Rows and rows of bombs rained from the planes, setting
more buildings ablaze. The pilots ignored all the cries of help below, it was war after all.
Below them in the city, Chinese soldiers fired at the bombers with anti-aircraft guns. There was a great
“bang” as they hit a bomber. The soldiers cheered as it went down in a fiery streak. But they didn’t have enough
time to celebrate. A bomb landed right on their hideout with a “BOOOOOOM”. Then silence followed. Only a
terrified rat’s screech could be heard in the thick, suffocating layers of smoke ……
“AARRRRGGGGHHHH! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!” a siren wailed as soldiers carrying guns rushed
around. A captain shouted, “Japanese right ahead! Return fire!” Soldiers started to fire at Japanese soldiers charging
at them. The air was filled with smoke, it was almost impossible to see. Cheuk Wa stood behind the lines of battling
troops, helping field medics load wounded soldiers on an overcrowded ambulance.” The truck’s too full!” He yelled
to the medic. He nodded and told the driver to drive away. The medic then walked over and said, “You seem fairly
young to do a job like this.” Cheuk Wa answered, “Ever since my brother was killed while he was shooting down
enemy bombers I’ve been trying to help.” Just then, someone shouted, “The Japanese are breaking through!
Retreat!”
For weeks the Chinese troops retreated. Once, in the outskirts of Shanghai the Japanese ambushed their
encampment and wiped out most of them. Luckily, Cheuk Wa and the medic he had made friends with, Dr Zhang,
accompanied by a small band of soldiers got away and hid in an air–raid shelter. The first night they stayed there
they were wary, they wandered around the shelter not kno