Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 352

Sky and Moon
Carmel School - Elsa High School, Gefen, Ella - 13
T“It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair,” I cried. “I don’t want to move to the stupid JBA.”
“GBA,” said Mommy. “It stands for the Greater Bay Area. We have to move to Dongguan because a
government entity hired me to work with them on a hi-tech manufacturing project.”
I don’t know what that means but my sister, Olivia, nods. We were sitting in our house in Alaska which
we would have to leave to live in some place called Donwa.
“Why can’t they ask other people?” I whine.
“Because Mommy is very good at her job,” says Daddy as though he’s explaining something to a little
kid. But I’m not a little kid anymore; I'm five and a half years old. I can go on the swings all by myself, climb on
the tallest climbing frame and slide on the longest slide in David-Green Park and I’m not even scared. But now I
won’t be able to go there because we have to move to Donwa.
I hear muffled voices but I don’t listen to what their saying; instead I watch the moon. Why did we
have to move? I like it in Alaska: I have friends, a nice house, a fun playground; in Donwa I have nothing.
Soon, our house was empty; everything was packed into boxes, the boxes were gone. When the plane
took off, my ears hurt; I think my ears missed home. During the ride to our new house, I look up at the sky and
see the moon. I don’t understand why the moon keeps moving; it should just pick it’s favorite place and stay
there.
* * *
“Henryyyyyyy! We have to go!” I hear Olivia shout from the living-room. Today is my first day of
kindergarten; I’m very excited.
Olivia drops me off in my classroom which is plastered with colourful paper and drawings; they match
my superhero backpack.
“Nihao,” says the teacher. “Huanying lai dao youeryuan.” A look of confusion crosses my face.
“Ohhh. You is new English student?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m Zhao Laoshi. What’s your name?”
“Henry.” She led me to the other side of the room and introduced me to a smiling lady.
“Hi, Henry,” she said. “I’m Chen Laoshi, your Cantonese tutor.”
I look around and saw that most of the kids are sitting on the circular carpet; I sit down next to a kid
and say, “Hi. I’m Henry.” He doesn’t respond but turns to the kid on his other side and starts talking in
Cantonese.
Soon, Zhao Laoshi tells everyone to sit down. She talks in Cantonese and Chen Laoshi translates but it’s
hard to keep up. Is it going to be like everyday? What if I don’t make any friends? I’ll be all alone.
That evening Mommy asked, “How was your day?”
“Bad,” I say moodily. “I made no friends. Cantonese is so confusing.”
“He doesn’t go to a private school?” asked Olivia.
“All of the private schools for his age were French or unaffordable,” says Mommy guiltily. “But
tomorrow your tutor will teach you. It’ll be ok honey.”
The next day, Chen Laoshi drove me home and taught me Cantonese for an hour. At first, I kept
Mommy’s words in mind but by the end of the lesson, I couldn’t see how she expected me to ever understand
Cantonese.
* * *
After a month in Donwa, I finally found the perfect replacement for David-Green Park.
The gears started to turn in my head… I’m a fireman, sliding down a pole on my way to saving citizens
from a burning building; I’m a pirate trying to find the secret island of treasure by climbing up the tallest rung,
scanning the great blue sea; I’m a secret agent, sliding into my secret, underground lair after completing a
mission; I’m a ninja as I swing as high as I can and jump off, landing on my feet and rolling away smoothly. For
hours I play until Olivia drags me home.
I wanted to share the exciting news of the playground with someone but I still didn’t have friends,
despite improving in Cantonese. However, that morning, Zhao Laoshi says, “Everyone, I would like to welcome
a new student, Michael.”
Then Chen Laoshi brought him over to where I was playing.
“Michael, this is Henry,” she said, in English. “I think you’ll get along.”
“You speak English?” I said, overflowing with joy.
“Yeah,” he said, “I learnt it at school in Hong Kong. Where are you from?”