Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 76

Life in Old Shanghai
Bradbury School, Chan, Airiana - 9
How Life Is Like In Old Shanghai
Life of a lady in Old Shanghai was like the life of a butterfly. Most of their lives were short and some were poor.
Many people sacrificed their life to defend China. Nobody was always happy, nobody was always sad, sometimes life
was unfair.
I look like normal teenager, aged sixteen and born in Shanghai. But if you look deeper into me, you will see that
I am a spy gathering information for the Chinese government.
At that time, the Eight-Nation Alliance was fighting to take over parts of China but spies like me try our best to
protect our homeland. We gather information about the rival’s plots and come up with our own plans to protect one
of China’s most popular city, Shanghai. While spying, I found some really interesting stories, and now I am going to
tell you one of my favourites.
The Story Of The Poor Maiden
One day, upon the Bund, a fair maiden was sitting on a rock weaving a thin, delicate piece of cloth. She wove and
wove till night fell. The poor maiden didn’t have a home to live in, so she went to some nearby trees where an owl
was living. She sat under a tree and stared at the shimmering stars in the sky.
“Oh how I wish a man will just find me here and take me to his warm, lovely home to live in. I would tidy and
polish his whole house and I would make sure he has clean, dry clothes each day if I have to.” sighed the maiden.
What she didn’t know was that there was an owl above her head, resting on a tree branch. It heard every word she
said.
The next day, when she woke up, there was a loud “CRASH!” then an even stronger “BANG!” A whole army was
coming! People with blonde hair bursted in, it was the British Army! They were armed with all sorts of terrifying
weapons like spike balls and machine guns! It was clear they were trying to invade Shanghai! The horses and
chariots ran past her as quick as lightning. The poor maiden was petrified. About ten minutes later, the army was
gone, well, almost all of the army. A young soldier stopped by and found the maiden crouching down with her
hands over her head.
He helped the maiden get on her feet then said, “Good day my fair maiden, my name is Latemen John, I mean John
Latemen. I am part of the British army. You look dirty, maybe I could help you, is there anything you need?”
The maiden replied, “Thank you for stopping by to help me, the only thing I want is a warm house I can live in and
take care of. But I know you need to stay in your army so I hope I am not a disturbance.”
“Actually I might have what you want, to be honest, I don’t know where the army has gone and I do not want to
risk my life invading and stealing other people’s country. I will take you back to Scotland where I live but there is
a problem. We do not have any resources apart from my gun and your weaving things. We will need wood and food
because it is a long way to Scotland from here.”
Of course the owl worked her magic and all of the sudden in the water there was a boat filled with supplies of wood,
juicy little dumplings (which were commonly eaten at my times), two fishing rods and some bait appeared in the
water.