Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 253
Future Adventures of the Greater Bay Area
Singapore International School, Lin, Yushu - 10
Days go by and how time flies, seasons always changing. When we contemplate the future, we envision
mind-warping technology and global warming destroying the Earth mercilessly. What will the future in the
Greater Bay Area be like?
Now let’s take a time machine all the way to 2050, thirty years later, and with a whoosh we land, and see
what a day is like in the future of the Greater Bay Area.
In front of me is a small, sky blue cottage with the waterproof paint slightly faded. Around the cottage is a
small garden with a variety of plants, surrounded by majestic green hills. The water hose was watering the
plants by itself, commanded by a small handy device. Suddenly the door opened by itself, and a woman in
her forties with sleek black hair came out with a girl of ten. “Have a nice time at school, Taylor.” She said
emotionlessly, her head buried in a book. “Sure.” The girl replied without looking. She took out the same
handy device and pressed a button, then she disappeared instantly.
The woman sighed. She turned around and the door opened again for her. I sneaked inside the small cottage
behind her, curious.
What will you expect to be inside this small, antique cottage? A floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom?
No, no. Inside the cottage there is a spacious living room which seemed even bigger than the cottage itself,
with expensive furniture and a high ceiling with a glass chandelier shimmering in the sunlight. A wellpolished
marble staircase led towards a second floor upstairs. A set of double doors were slightly ajar, inside
was a king-sized bed with plopped up pillows and comfortable blankets. A huge French window allowed
anyone to see the vast expanse of mountains.
I noticed that many stuff seemed to be done by invisible robots, for example the vacuum cleaner was
roaming the house cleaning the floor by itself and dodged obstacles all by itself; the delicate teapot was
pouring tea into three beautiful cups by itself. Almost everything was running on its own. And those little
handy devices were everywhere, commanding invisible computer-based robots to do chores.
The woman came out of another room, wearing a formal black suit and a black backpack, obviously
preparing for work. She plopped a green bean-like candy into her mouth. Later I found out that this green
candy contains all the vitamins and nutrients needed for one day. She took one of those little handy devices
and pressed a button. The device flashed red lights, then the woman disappeared, just like her daughter
Taylor did. I stood there alone with my mouth hanging open, awed at the high technology people use in
the future.
I decided to go for a walk outside and take a look at how the outside world had changed. What I saw
surprised me. The road was bronze and transparent, like glass. But cars and trucks rode on it as normal. Also,
people getting out of their vehicles were pressing a small button, and immediately their vehicle, whatever
size it was, shrunk down and they slipped it in their pocket. The restaurants by the streets had robot waiters
instead of real human waiters, there was a fake slice of bread and a bottle of wine; the guests pressed a button
on the bread to order food, and press a button on the wine to order drinks.
I even took a look at the hospital. The doctors were all assisted by robots that looked like humans, spoke
like humans and acted like humans. They helped the doctors to calm down little kids; or, for example in
surgery, they were able to make precise incisions between delicate bones (like the rib cage), much more
precise than doctors do. They were programmed especially. This made the doctors less tired — these doctors
had much less dark circles around their eyes.
What was strange was that the people never communicated. Not even a word.