Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 552

Curses Broke
Raimondi College, Lam, Ka Shing – 15
There have been rumors about numerous curses that pass from generation to generation. The scope of the
curse varies from case to case, but an unifying feature is that all requires immense strength to break it for one
person, and little have found the strength required within their minds, becoming eternally bound under the
curse.
That was too true for me, a runaway teenager, who was cursed to remain forever within a certain latitude
range. Homeless, penniless, and forced to wander, I instantly regretted stepping into this place: there was no
place for a dirty young man like me under bright neon lights and designer boutiques. My mind wandered
aimlessly, perhaps thinking about how to leave this place, but yet the only option I had was by foot. And
there won’t be any water as well...
“You okay?” a tall boy, perhaps in his early 20s, said, his eyes turquoise and his hair a light shade of brown.
He looked foreign, yet paradoxically local.
“Y... yeah, did I just bump into you?” I hate my shuttering.
“I guess you did so...”
“S, sorry!” I bowed and quickly left. Entering a side alley I sat by the walls and rested; perhaps I was too
tired, after all. Or did I ran out of water?
Water -- how I longed for it after not drinking for a while! I gulped, head full of static images of the vast
ocean. Perhaps tomorrow, I thought to myself, as it’s night for a few hours already and my body was
exhausted after all the traveling. I felt my body was drifting, the dark alley felling more comfortable than
withstanding the heat radiating from those neon signs...
“Hey, seriously, you fine?”
I opened my eyes to see that brown-haired stranger again. He looked more concerned, but the weird thing
was that his eyebrows never seem to move, “You seem to be somewhat... dehydrated.”
I decided to admit it, “D, do you know where can I f, find water?”
“Why won’t I?” he exclaimed, reaching for his backpack and took out a bottle of distilled water. While I
gulped he look like as if he was inspecting me, his eyes never leaving me.
“Thanks,” I never finished drinking a whole bottle of water so quickly. I wiped my mouth, feeling
somewhat relieved, when the tall boy asked, eyes sharp, “A runaway kid?”
I nodded, trying to suppress my hunger, but failed promptly as he commented that I must be quite hungry.
He subsequently brought me in a fast food restaurant, and bought a set meal for me alongside his.
“You don’t h, have to treat me that well...” I said when he brought the meals to seat.
“Then I’ll eat yours and you’ll get no dinner,” he quickly responded as he snatched a handful of French fries
from my set.
“I’d p, prefer dinner...” I started dining on the food he bought for me. How long did I miss freshlyprepared
food? Despite occasional glares from passing-bys I felt satisfied enough, and as I continued to
consume the food the tall boy initiated a conversation with me. I learned his name was Miguel and he was
half-Portuguese, “My father is from Faro, in the Southern tip of Portugal. He used to run a business about
fish and fishing supplies, but he closed the shop around a decade ago.”
“Is the place n, nice?”
“Yeah. It’s not as dense as this Macau but kinda hot in European standards. There’s a ferry running to a
beach off Faro where you can watch the Atlantic, and the cargo ships that go by.”
I imagined the fast food shop as the Atlantic, and its customers and people walking by as different cargo
ships. “It must be nice.”
“But why the sad face?”
“I... I’m cursed. To remain within a certain latitude range.” I closed my eyes and said slowly, “I couldn’t
go.”
“That’s interesting, but aren’t the curse thing an elaborate urban legend?”
“N, not to me...”
There was a silence as if he was trying to calculate how probable I was lying. I finished my food and gulped
at the iced cola Miguel bought for me, waiting for him to continue speaking.
“Well, if this is indeed the case,” Miguel took a breath before continuing, “I have some business to do in
Ilha Verde. My friend has a shop there, and I believe she will be willing to let you stay.”
“S, stay...?” I said, surprised by the suggestion.
“You have nowhere to go, don’t you?” Miguel snapped, “And you seriously need a bath.”