Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 259

An Unknown Curse of Disappearance
Singapore International School, Olsen, Gwyneth - 11
The waters swished rapidly as police flooded in to see what had occurred. Some held a torchlight
while others dived in upon all the dangers, to find him.
*****
It was 1973 when this all happened. A young fisherman named Jin Lin who was in his early thirties
was desperately in need of money to support his family. He had a wife who took care of their daughter and
always tried her best to find time to sell vegetables in the market, while he had to go to his “boss” to find
new jobs of fish to catch to earn money. Jin Lin’s “boss” was rich and took him for granted, he always faced
sideways where no one could see his left cheek, but worse od all he would always make Jin Lin do the
hardest fishing jobs that no other fishermen dare do, but yet he paid him a small sum of money. This time,
“boss” had a much bigger job for Jin Lin, something bigger, and better.
It was a gloomy Monday, and Jin Lin had just left the house and said goodbye to his daughter and
wife Maria, he cycled to the town square where his “boss” lived. Fabrics brushed onto Jin Lin’s face as the
town villagers chattered loudly. He walked through a hall where two guards opened a door for him, “boss,”
Jin Lin mumbled, “you have a new job for me, right?”
“Boss” turned his chair around to the side, “Yes, unless you are up for a challenge,” his long white
beard hit his cheek as Jin Lin’s eyebrow raised. “You will travel to the Pearl River delta and fish me the
finest fish living there and the money given will be one grand, now go and finish the job, or else no
money.”
“No,” Jin Lin interrupted worriedly, “have you not heard about the myths? Our loved ones will
die if we take the fish living in the river and that curse will be put by the river’s father, legend has it that he
has a scar from a shark bite, I won’t take that risk,” his voice grew softer and softer.
As Jin Lin walked out, “boss” chuckled and sighed, “I thought you knew better, stupid boy, but
since you are the best in town, I will give you until tonight to think about it.”
Jin Lin gulped as he was insulted by what he said. He turned around slowly and said, “ I will think
about it.”
As Jin Lin cycled back home he knew that he was going to do the job, “I will do the job, I will do
the job, I will, I will, these are all lies,” those words played in his head when an aromatic smell wafted into
his nose, he immediately knew it was coming from his house as no one could cook a stew better than his
wife. The door laughed as he opened it, he put his bag down and sat down next to his daughter. She smiled
as he adjusted her bow on her head.
“How was work today?” Maria asked as she placed a bowl of stew on Jin Lin’s lap. He slowly
picked a spoon, scooped a wallop of stew and stared at the wall for a few seconds. Maria confusedly looked
at him in wonder, “Did anything happen?”
Jin Lin laughed nervously and lied “No, this stew is just so tasty.”
A day had passed, and he woke up early in the following morning to do his job. He got up from
bed, took a deep breath and kissed his wife and daughter on the cheek before he left. He cycled across the
mainland when he finally reached The Pearl River Delta, the weather was awful, he could sense that
something bad and eerie was going to happen. The silence and the thought that he was all alone and
couldn’t call for help made chills run down his spine. However, he put his thoughts away and set up his
equipment.
He sat by the shore and waited for fish to get caught. The wind whistled at him for hours, when he
felt something tugging onto the hook. Jin Lin had finally caught a fish! He picked it up and admired its