Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 649

the glamorous face of Cantoneisa.
Ten years ago, two lines on a white stick scared my dad away. “He never belonged with us
anyway.” I guess I broke the deal: I anchored him to the floaters. He wanted was to be free- if only one
stolen night at a time. So he cut off the ties and drifted away. Sometimes, I want to drift away too. But I
take one look at Andrew and Caden, and that feeling blows away like dry sand in a typhoon. It doesn’t
matter they don’t share the same dad. Actually, it’s better, like they only contain parts of myself I like. Brave,
beautiful Sharon. Not some cowardly baby in a man’s suit.
Oh look, there Caden is. Arms waving, jumping up and down by on the planks. Andrew and I
yelled his name and waved back.
Shin
The name Mia Dempsey caught Shin’s eye. Maybe it was the wide grin, slightly crooked teeth,
elfish ears and the fiery look in her eyes. Maybe her sun-kissed skin and brown hair flying in the wind.
Floater. 21. National Board College Examination: 791/800. Same as me! It felt a little like fate. He returned
to the smiling receptionist.
“Mia Dempsey, please.” Shin hoped her fearlessness would rub off on him a little.
“Wonderful choice. The process will commence in three days. An attendant will now lead you to
your room. Please make yourself at home.”
Mia
Caden and Andrew tumbled outside on the deck.
Sharon and I sat in the corner of our living room, watching them through the wispy door curtains.
We can’t afford college for me. I probably flunked my exams – after taking them two years early to
begin working, competing against those elite boarding school kids is like throwing an egg against a rock
anyway. The results come out a few months later, but I’d start working tomorrow, as a janitor at the nearby
hospital. Sharon felt like I should at least wait for the results. “Scholarships don’t exist anymore, but we
might find a sponsor.”
I might not be dumb – at least by Floater standards – but I'm not sponsor-material either. But I
knew Andrew and Caden were something else.
Shin
It’s one day until Mia becomes a part of Shin. Strangely, no matter how much Kafka he read, he
can’t slow my heart down. Those eyes. If only they’d let him talk to her.
Mia
Andrew slammed his fist into the wall. I thought our entire boat would flip. Caden was in the
corner, studying for his Examinations now.
It’s been three days since I returned home with a bandage on my face and a hole where my right
eye was.
“It’s nothing much, just another work accident.” The words sounded fake as they slid through my
lips. Someone let out a dumb, high-pitched laugh. Oh. It’s me. I began blabbering about my idiotic coworker
Spencer. It was easy: he doesn’t exist.
Did they figure it out already? The mysterious accidents and magically lucrative jobs.
Weeks into janitor's work, a voice in a corner told me to think about a deal. Over six years, I’d be