Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 601

Was the first thing that came out of my mouth when I slipped. ‘Would you like merman dust?’ Ting Ting
asked me. ‘What is that?’ I asked her. ‘It is like pixie dust but it doesn’t let you float off. Instead, it helps you
develop a tail so that you can swim easily.’ she said. ‘And keep your balance,’ she added. I was thinking
about whether the tail would stay there forever but it seemed like she read my mind again because she said,
‘It will go away after 24 fish hands, which means 24 hours in your language by the way.’ ‘Sure! That stuff
sounds awesome!’ So basically I only had 24 hours to explore Mermasian Macau. It wasn’t a lot so I asked
her for some more. ‘Can the pix— I mean merman dust be extended for a period of time though?’ I asked.
‘I’m afraid not,’ Ting Ting replied sadly. ‘Shucks’ I said.
I was unhappy but still grateful that I had an opportunity to see the Mermasian Macau and the marine life in
the radius of the Greater Bay Area. ‘Did you have enough rest though?’ Ting Ting asked me, ‘ YES OF
COURSEEEE ,’ I yelled out of excitement. ‘Pipe down or your oxygen suit will burst!’ Hei Cheng said
angrily. ‘Okay, can you sprinkle pix— no, merman dust over me then? Like as soon as possible? Like right
now?’ I asked Ting Ting, ignoring Hei Cheng. ‘Go over there and let Hei Cheng do the honour okay? It's
not everyday we rescue a human that is so interested in our species and I want to give him a chance to
umm... you know … maybe talk to a human for once?’ ‘Sure…’ I said reluctantly. I secretly hoped that
Ting Ting would sprinkle that merman dust over me but no, I’m probably repulsive to both mermaids and
human girls... Such is my fate, I thought.
I went over to Hei Cheng and got the merman dust sprinkled over me. A few seconds later, there was a
bright white light in front of my eyes and I was being lifted up into the air (or rather, water). The feeling
was honestly amazing and I felt my legs bind together and form into a long tail. Then, my T-shirt started
changing into something else! I came back down again and noticed that I was now wearing an orange
changshan with a matching long, orange tail that actually worked perfectly with my short, dirty blond hair,
baby face and blue eyes.Wait… I could also see clearly underwater now, and had perfect hearing too! I
heard corals making a low sizzling sound like bacon frying on low heat. I didn't know that they could make
that sound!
It was amazing. But then a boat passed just above our heads. I was deep in the sea but I could still hear the
roaring of the engine. The engine sound overpowered the sound of the corals. Humans can easily say they
just want to make their economy great, but the truth is that they really don’t know the lives that they hurt
underwater.
‘Okay, are you ready to go?’ Ting Ting asked me suddenly, and her voice was more than clear. ‘Alright, let's
go,’ I replied. She took me by the hand and I realized it was already night time because of the indigo shades
in the sea. probably if I had human eyes, it would all be pitch black. She took me to the place where Maggie
died, and then took me to the place where my driver was lying peacefully. His expression was kind of
shocked. ‘We will take him up to the surface in the morning with you, so it won't look too suspicious,’
Ting Ting reassured me. ‘Okay,’ I said. Then she pulled me by the hand and took me to the Mermasian
Macau.
At first glance, the whole sight was beautiful. It looked like a Japanese summer festival. Then I realized the
lights were produced by the angler fish! They were swimming precisely around the whole area, making the
water light up almost like a bright place in the middle of nowhere. And then I saw the most beautiful thing
of all. it looked like the Macau Tower, except it was floating steadily in the water. There were some food
stalls on the sides, which sold seaweed in seashells (I think they were the Mermasian’s version of egg tarts).
There was also a drink with a some pink substance in it, which I assumed again, was their traditional sweet
drink. ‘Wanna try?’ Ting Ting asked me. ‘Sure,’ I replied hesitantly. ‘Trust me, they're awesome.’ She
looked at me with amusement in her eyes and I was thinking that I wouldn't trust her ever again if the drink
was bad, but when I tried the drink, it was, as she said, “awesome”! It tasted like a mix of all great flavours I
loved, there was choclate mint ,cake batter, cookie batter and so on.
We both were swimming peacefully along the many food stalls, when Hei Cheng was suddenly appeared
behind us. I screamed and the merpeople around us covered their ears. Even Hei Cheng and Ting Ting
covered their ears. ‘What was that about?? You know you can scream louder than ever, right?’ Ting Ting
scolded me, smacking me on my merman head. ‘Oww!’ I cried out ‘Tell your brother to not scare me then!’
I snapped angrily. ‘I just had something to give you.’ Hei Cheng was speaking, but I wasn't listening. ‘John
Spears!’ he suddenly said in a firmer voice. ‘ Yeah?’ I responded. ‘I have a shiny purple seashell to give you...