Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 387

The Mystery of the Land of the Phoenix Sun
GT (Ellen Yeung) College, Tse, Zhena - 12
The Professor still ordered them like dogs, so Zach slumped down for good measure. “Ah that’s m’boy, now sit
up straighter, it’ll hurt your spine.” Shooting a ‘lemme die now’ look at Giselle, the Professor said,“Hello
children, you might not know why your here, you have been chosen by the story realm to help save the land
from danger, including villains, monsters, dark magic, all sorts of weird stuff ever seen.” This time Giselle raised
her eyebrows and Zach twirled a finger at his head. “... so, when the never-ending story Realm is in danger, it’ll
send out a book, contained in it a normal story introduction of the basic info of the land in danger, but the
peculiar thing is, it doesn’t have an ending.” Now the kids were intrigued, they were listening as keenly like they
were using Fred and George Weasley’s Extendable Ears. “The story just stops at the Climax, where the fate of
the antagonist decides the fate of the whole story. So in conclusion, if you fail to rid the land of horrors,” he
draws a line through his neck. “The story is over. But, if you succeed, the story will have a proper ending.”
“Look! The book’s coming out!”
As the pair looked eagerly, the heart of the pearl glowed, and a faint shape of a book materialized, slowly
growing larger and colorful. Then the book drifted slowly into the hands of the Professor. He handed the book
to them. Giselle read the title aloud “The Mystery of the Phoenix Sun. What does that even mean?” Zach kept
silent for once in his life. He was admiring the beautiful cover of the book, red in color, laced with golden edges,
with a flaming Phoenix right in the middle.
Zach quickly skimmed through the pages,” it says here that the land is very large, excellent in trading and has
good living qualities, but the problem there facing is sudden fires every day. So I think our job is to find out the
cause of fires?”
“Exactly! What you guys waiting for? Open the book, jump in, and finish the story!”
So, they reluctantly placed the book on the floor, and the boy put a tentative foot towards it. He felt a vortex
pulling him down, and just before he fell right down, he grabbed Giselle with him. The sensation of travelling in
the book was like being sucked down, like pulling a stubborn octopus from your face, who, apparently, thinks
your face is some kind of toy.
When they set foot on solid ground again, it was not what they anticipated. A hot gust of air greeted them. Their
surroundings were quite similar to Perth, dry, scorchingly hot, but with brighter colors and more life.
The few moments after they landed, a bright crimson feather with a card attached drifted from nowhere right
into their palms. Zach turned the decorated card over, and was surprised that there were words. “Hmm? It’s says,
‘Walk east until you find the house with the feather’. What does it mean?” “Who cares!” exclaimed Giselle.” I
just want to get out of this place! Think about it, our whole day has been weird. First our hands burn without
any reason. Then the Professor said a bunch of stuff that doesn’t happen in real life! Finally, we are stuck inside
this world, and have no idea how to get out!” Zach replied her with some annoyance, “Well since we’ve got no
idea how to escape, so our only way to solve problem is to follow the instructions and we’ll find something out!
Otherwise the Professor wouldn’t have sent us here, right?”
Therefore, they turned east and started walking towards the village before them. “I wonder what this clue means
by ‘the house with the feather’? “ Mused the girl, who was peering at the homes they walked past, trying to look
out for signs of feathers that matched the one given to them. Occasionally, a fire would start, and no matter how
the people dumped water, it kept burning for a good few minutes before it diminished. They were about to
leave defeated, when the Fortune Teller told them to stay back. After making sure there were no eavesdroppers,
she dropped her voice to a hush, and her eyes grew lighter and glazed. The children inched closer, eager to hear
what she had to say. She whispered, “Hold the feather up high, and drop it to the ground. Follow the tip of the
bird’s treasure to find what you need. 20 steps forward, 39 to the left, 14 to the right. Repeat five times.” Then
she became normal again, and seemed to forget why she was there. It was in that short moment that Zach let the
feather drop. Both of them watched carefully as the tip pointed south. The Fortune Teller suddenly regained
senses and shooed the children away.
But they counted their steps as they left with the precious feather clutches tightly in hand. One time... two
times... three times... four...five...and…six! They were counting their steps and directions for so long that they
did not bother to look up. Now they did, and was amazed by the fact that, the monument that stood before
them was so breathtaking that it could be considered the eighth wonder of the world if it existed in the human
world. The children turned their attention to the huge building, reflecting the sun’s rays as though it was shining