Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020 | Page 15

Hong Kong Young Writers Awards 2020
Harmonia
Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Chu, Annabelle – 10
I looked outside from my machine, Chronos, and saw a lush green land. I was a time-
traveler, and I loved to explore. I steered Chronos towards the land, curiosity rising.
The world was unlike anything I had seen before! Magnificent skyscrapers scratched the
clouds, wide bridges towered the roads of pedestrians, and flying cars flew under the burning
sun. “Unbelievable,” I blurted.
Standing at the entrance, I was welcomed by a robot grasping an Xpad. I introduced,
“I am Annabelle. Where is this place?”
The robot responded, “You must be from very far away to not know anything about
here. But don’t fear; our most knowledgeable guide will explain this fantastic land! Would
Robot X9 come over here?”
Without waiting for my reply, he hovered in the air and flew off, as Robot X9 turned up.
X9 was white with a radar signal placed on his head. He had a rectangle on his face which I
assume was his mouth. He verbalized piercingly, “Good morning! Please follow me. We are
going to the flying taxi station!”
I asked, “Where and when are we?” X9 stared at me with a suspicious look. “We are
in GBA, Greater Bay Area, and it is year 2030. GBA has a combined population of over 70
million people. It leaves New York and Tokyo behind on economy and technology. The
flying taxi stand is there!”
We picked a white taxi. Immediately after we hopped on, the taxi extended its wings and
soared in the air. The taxi was eco-friendly, with two solar power engines stationed next to
it. Out of curiosity, I pressed a hamburger shaped button. A metallic hand popped up from
under my seat with a freshly-cooked hamburger!
“Look! There’s Shenzhen. It is my home, as I was invented here.” X9 declared. I saw
an enormous floating research lab, which looked silver thanks to sunlight filtering on top.
Inside, a group of scientists and robots sit at a round table, discussing a project called Global
Warming. Different languages were used, English, Mandarin, Cantonese … Peeking at the
charts on touch-screens circling above scientists’ head, I realized Shenzhen was a zero-carbon
city, running entirely on renewable energy!
Still in awe, the taxi took us to Guangzhou.
Guangzhou looked like a transport hub. High-speed railways connecting the regions
stretched in to the horizon, and busy planes soared past my head. I entered the airport and
glanced at the information screen. It was showing how long it took for each flight. To my
surprise, it only took 1 hour to get to New York and 35 minutes to get to London!
We went to the train strain. A silver train with no wheels ran on the railway. The
counters were served by robots. All you need to do was to scan your face to board the train.
It was so swift. It appeared to me like a blur. Within seconds, we arrived in Macau.
The tasty aroma of food wafted through my nose as I saw a lot of fun tourism places.
Fancy hotels and amusement parks circled the packed town. When I got off, I followed
the appealing scent and arrived at Taipa Food Street. All of a sudden, X9 started talking in
Portuguese, “Oi, tudo bem? Bem vindos a Macao! Welcome to the World Entertainment Expo!”
I observed a stage in the middle of the street. I rushed there and immersed myself in the
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