Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 230

The Paperclip Thief
Shanghai Singapore International School, Orange, Elaine Ying - 11
LIN: 9am
I am a thief. A robber. A drop-out student only nineteen years of age. He kicked me out of school, all
because of a paperclip. One single paperclip. A paperclip that just happened to be-
MEI: 9:06am
“Hey, watch it!” shouts a girl who is probably a couple of years older than me.
“Sorry,” I mutter. I’m wedged between a wall and a girl who somehow seems familiar, but I can’t
quite remember who she is. You would think that everyone knew everybody, in the small area of Country
284.
I’ve heard that 284 used to be known as the ‘Greater’ Bay Area, but that’s obviously just a rumour
spread by some know-it-all. How could anyone call themselves ‘Greater’? I mean, Country 284 is by far
the best country there is!
‘Tourists’ from other countries visit 284, and usually end up in labour camps. I don’t think anyone
knows why humans are segregated from other intelligent life forms, but I’m guessing it’s because those life
forms are better than humans in some way.
LIN: 9:20am
“Wake up, Doofus!” I shout. This kid’s creeping me out, smiling and drooling like some uncivil hound. I’m
in the apartment block, waiting for this freak to move so that I can grab my bag and run. The paperclip I
stole is with a Judge, and I must go to court and receive my punishment for lifting it. The kid looks like
she’s sleeping, so I shove her out of my way into a wall and take the fastest metro cart to the city.
LIN: 10am
“Miss Lin Wei, age nineteen, resident of SZ complex, originally from Hong Kong,” the Judge states, “Is this
valid?”
“Yes,” I reply.
I’m not a resident of SZ complex. That place is my stepmother’s home, her first husband’s house.
SZ complex was built for supreme judges. I told the Judge he was correct. I lied. The Judge then rambles on
about why I’m here, and some other random information I don’t even bother to take in. The Judge declares
that I must serve five years in labour camp. I’m confused. Father stole a loaf of bread, once. His punishment
was three days in labour camp. That was almost eleven years ago, though. The rules must have gotten
stricter within that time.
MEI: 11:13am
When I open my eyes, I realise that there is a huge bruise on my leg. I then realise that there is
drool on my face. I’ve been sleeping against a wall in my complex for about two hours. I’ve been trying to
avoid my mother, but I am tired. I start heading home, looking for something to eat. I greet my mother,
“Hello, Mum.”
She nods and goes back to looking through old pictures of myself and my stepsister, who is gone.
The apartment smells like a public smoking stand, when the cleaners never open the windows. All the
cupboards are empty. I guess I’ll have to find my lunch somewhere else.
LIN: 1pm
The cell’s nice. At labour camp, all I must do is clean the kitchens twice each day. It’s better than
Father’s house, infested with mice and cockroaches. That’s where I’ve been staying for the past ten years.
The cell is also better than my step-mum’s house, even though it’s smaller. The bed smells of bad eggs, but
I’m too tired to care.
Just as I’m about to fall asleep, I remember the bed in Father’s house built with my own hands, a
few planks of wood and some wool.
Then the bed that Father bought after he met my step-mum flashes through my mind, a pink
bunk, that made me hate the colour for the rest of my life. That despicable woman obviously brainwashed
Father into becoming this perfect man. I hate her and her whole family for doing this to me.
MEI: 5pm