Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 575

At that moment, all talking, shuffling and whispering stopped; silence. We were trapped in a pocket of time.
My voice quivered as I began reading my paper…
~~
Freedom. What does it actually mean? Freedom could be like capturing a snake. The snake sheds its skin to
leave us in the relic of its trickery as a souvenir of our desire. Or is freedom like the wind? We don’t know
it exists until we see its impact on other things, like the swaying of the tree, the ripples in water, paper plates
flying away, hair blowing. Is it like a muscle? Something we must exercise in order to develop and keep
healthy, a blessing but also a burden. Or is freedom like the fresh air we breathe, or the clean water we
drink. We don’t realise it's there until someone takes it from us. Whatever it may be, it is something that is
valued by most communities as something very important. For example, one of the slabs that lies outside the
box, linked by a thin piece of string, has enjoyed its hard-earned freedom having been by itself with only a
small connection to the main box. But would the plan now take that away? I had many doubts, as to
whether the plan would be able to preserve the uniqueness of the slab, whilst allowing it to grow and
develop.
~~
I was back in the comfort of my room. But this time, I wasn’t nervous anymore. I had finally played my
part. I had informed the council on how the plan had many gaps that needed to be filled, like cavities on
people’s teeth. Without filling them, the whole product would not be able to function. Whether they
would listen to me or not, was up to them, but I had at least made them aware of the situation and the
complications. I sat back in my chair.
~~
There are two types of stories. The ones with happy endings, and the ones without. We often read the
books with happy endings, afraid that the latter will be disheartening; we may not ‘enjoy’ them. But really,
we are only too scared to open them because of the fear of being wrong. We are scared that we may
discover that everything we thought was wrong, or that we would never be able to fulfill our dreams and
desires. But it is only when we open those books that we understand the reality of our world, because
believing in fantasies will never work in our favour. It is only when we understand how the real world
works, that we can truly do something to change it.
~~
For once, I was satisfied.