Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 613

“I’m ready! Which way are we going?” Rina asked. Lewis pointed to the left.
Slowly, they began to cycle away from the store, and as they passed by where the park used to be,
Lewis looked at the construction site that was now situated there instead. He could see the oddly-shaped
building in the centre, around halfway done. There was an air of elegance to it. Glazed windows, sharp
colours. It felt different from the rest of the area. Lots of trees, a small, traditional pavilion here and there and
the faded cycling path, versus this modern building in the making. The reminder brought Lewis back to
thoughts of the Greater Bay Area. With the new special region, there would be more urban development
coming along. Lewis didn’t know how to feel about losing more fragments of his childhood, his past.
“Is this what used to be the park the man was talking about?” Rina asked, stopping and peering up
at the building curiously.
“Yes, I spent many weekends here when I was young. It wasn’t anything fancy, but I had a lot of
fun cycling around and befriending other kids who came.”
“You sound sad, dad.” Rina frowned. “I think I would be sad too if one of my favourite places was
taken away.”
“Yeah...I am sad, but let’s not focus on that and keep moving,” Lewis said, brushing it off.
Lewis distracted himself through explanations of where they were as they continued to cycle. A lot
of it looked the same, but none of it looked as great as it had back when he was a child. Things were getting
old and weren’t loved by people as much now. It was a bit of a skewed perspective, the one Lewis had.
Highly biased towards things he felt nostalgic about, not so much considerate of the current needs of people
and the changes to how society functioned. Stubborn and refusing change, possibly.
Rina wasn’t very fast when it came to cycling, so their pace wasn’t a tiring one, and even though
Lewis almost always kept one eye on her, the other wandered freely.
Getting to see the less urban side of the city was something that filled Lewis with joy. Working in
an office certainly didn’t allow him any chances to look outside. Even when he did, it was all just a bunch of
giant buildings looming over him and busy people walking around.
“Actually, Rina, did you know that Sha Tin is another huge district? We’re currently in one of the
less populous parts of it. In this district, there are lots of villages and temples, but at the same time we also
have quite a number of shopping centres.” There weren’t many people or cars around and since Lewis was
following behind Rina closely, it wasn’t too difficult for her to hear him.
“Will they always stay this way?” Rina asked as she continued to cycle down the path.
“It’s hard to tell sometimes. I guess we don’t find out that quickly when there are agreements to
bring a major change to something. That feels mysterious, doesn’t it?” As if on cue, the breeze picked up,
creating a rustling sound as leaves shifted from their spots and litter began to fly up.
Rina chuckled. “It’s so cool. I want to know more. How much do you know, dad?”
“Not as much as your mother does. She can tell you lots more. What I do know is that they are
forging better relations between these few cities, allowing for more collaboration and helping people lead
better lives. We may benefit from this in the long term too.”
Distracted by the view of the sea, Rina only offered a small nod in response. “It’s lovely to cycle
here. We can see so much!”
“I think the beautiful thing is that there’s still so much more that we haven’t seen yet. We haven’t
really travelled much, so what do you think about going on another trip somewhere next summer? Well,
assuming your mother’s free.”