Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 401

The Journey Home
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Gidumal, Anya - 12
“Shush! Do you want to get caught again!” Mike whispered as he flicked his long space black hair out of his
hazel brown eyes, “No way! If we get caught one more time Mrs Xu will send us to bed without dinner for a
month!” Sofia whispered back to her twin brother. The twins kept bumping into the other orphan’s beds, as they
slowly snuck down the gloomy, dark alley of the horrible orphanage in Guangdong. Sofia and Mike had lived
here for eight and a half years since they were two and a half years old.
The two crept cautiously into the disgusting, spider-invested shower room. They had tried escaping many times
before, through different escape routes, but every time they had been caught by Mrs Xu, the awful, mean and
cruel orphanage owner. The shower room’s drain was their last and hopefully best escape route. Squelch…
Squelch. Mrs Xu was near. “Quick! Get in!” Quickly, they removed the drain cover and slipped down the long
dark tunnel. The sides were slippery, slimy and covered in moss. Not knowing what was ahead of them, they slid
down further, randomly turning, and hoping that this would lead them to somewhere nicer than the horrid
orphanage from which they had come.
As the tunnel opened, the two eleven-year-olds were in shock as they gazed out at the magnificent sunrise. The
twins had never seen such beauty and were in awe of it. The colours of the sky blended from navy blue to coral
pink and gave an ombre effect. It was dazzling! They couldn’t take their eyes off it.
Suddenly, a grumpy old man yelled “What do you think you two are doing? Scram! Get off my property! This is
only for residents! And I don’t think you two live here, so shoo, get away!”
It was then that they realised that they were in a stinky, green bin. “Wh...where are we?” Mike asked timidly.
“You’re in the GBA, The Greater Bay Area, obviously!” Replied the short-tempered old man. “I’m guessing
you two are lost, why don’t you get your butts off my bin and head on over to Old Lady Mei, or as everyone
calls her Po-Po” the old man shouted, “Thanks and sorry si..sir we’ll get off y..your property now!” Mike said
shyly, then he grabbed Sofia’s arm and ran off.
“Mike! Stop! We have no idea where we are! Where are you going? ” Sofia shouted as she was being pulled by
her brother, like in a losing game of tug of war. “Anywhere! I never thought that we would ever escape. Where
will we find food, water, shelter? And… where do we get all that money?” Mike was worried. “I have no idea,
I’m on the same page as you are. We need to stay strong, why don’t we head over to Old Lady Mei’s house,”
Sofia suggested. “We don’t even know her,” Mike said, “I know but it’s our only hope!” Sofia said, “I guess.”
Mike eventually agreed.
After twenty minutes of walking through the hot, polluted and humid streets of the GBA, the twins were
sweating profusely and still had no idea where they were. They asked many people for directions, but they were
all rude. Every time Sofia or Mike approached someone for directions, they would ignore the twins and simply
continue talking on their silly iPhones. Finally, after what felt like hours, they found a kind lady who
acknowledged them and told them that Old Lady Mei lived up the street and to the left. They continued walking
along the bustling road.
When they finally took a left where they were instructed to, the whole environment changed. Before it was a
busy city with cars here and there, but now it was like they were in the countryside, so quiet, so relaxing.
Walking onwards they saw a little hut, its mailbox said ‘Mei’. They knew that they were in the right place.
Knock...Knock, “Old Lady Mei? Are you in there?” Sofia asked bravely. “Who is it?” Asked someone with a
happy voice. “It’s Sofia and Mike Huang, we came to you because we escaped from our orphanage in
Guangdong and have nowhere to go,” Sofia replied. “Come in dears, sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting
guests! Also, call me Po-Po” replies Old Lady Mei, as she opened the door. Po-Po was a chubby woman, she