Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 111

The Old Man's Cane
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Li-Kato, Brayden - 11
T
he four friends trudged across the mountainous terrain.
Tang rested on his cane. “Get up, you great buffoon!” snapped Tang.
The great Monkey King, born from the five elements and called “The Great Sage Equal to
Heaven,” had collapsed from a mere five minutes of hiking. Tang hit the monkey sharply with his stick. “If
you’re ‘equal to heaven’, why can’t you walk for five damn minutes?”
The monkey groaned, rubbed his head where he had been struck, and slowly got to his feet.
Pigsy giggled, chewing his way through the last loaf of bread. “I’m not ‘equal to heaven’ or anything, but I
can still walk for more than five minutes.” He finished his sentence as he tore through the last piece of
bread, pecking at every last crumb.
“Well, there goes all of our food. We’ll have to stop at a nearby village or something for more,” the
Monkey King groaned, rubbing the spot where Tang hit him with his cane. Sandy, the pilgrim who had
followed along with the other three, stayed silent.
“Come on Sandy, why so quiet?” Jeered Pigsy.
It was at this moment when he seemed to snap out of a trance.
“Oh, nothing,” he replied. “Just got distracted. Look,” he said abruptly, “there’s a town over there. Maybe
we can get food, since we don’t have any left.”
He, and everyone else, was staring intently at Pigsy. He blushed. They continued down the mountain and
headed towards the village Sandy had spotted earlier. Monkey lay down and started to roll down the
mountain.
“Weeeeeeeeeee!” shouted Monkey, as he started to gain speed.
“Come back!”
Tang, brandishing his cane, started to sprint down the mountain after Monkey. The other two looked at
each other, shrugged, and followed suit.
They eventually reached the village, and Tang leaned on his cane, panting. The Monkey King got to his
feet, muddy and covered with grass juice, but grinned all the same. They walked up to a house and knocked
on a door.
“Hello?” Tang asked.
A friendly face appeared. “Hello, to what do I owe this surprise?”
Tang gave the villager a weary smile. “Just some travellers who need some food and rest, then we’ll be on
our way.”
The villager nodded and turned around to prepare for the unexpected guests. Monkey’s beaming face
appeared from behind Tang’s head. Tang turned around with surprising speed for an old man, and swiftly
hit Monkey’s head, as if he was playing whack-a-mole at a carnival before the townsperson could see him.
The townsperson emerged from his home, smiling.
“If you continue forward, your room is the second one on the left.”
As they entered, they noticed his house was a lot bigger than they had expected. From the outside, it looked
like a rundown shack made of rotting sticks and weather-beaten cobblestone. On the inside, however, was
a completely different story. It was a cosy but spacious home, the fireplace burning away with a merry
crackle, with staircases leading up and downstairs and numerous plush armchairs that were various shades of
brown and grey. There were bookshelves filled with interesting titles and the entire room was filled with a
golden glow. The unusual band of friends walked into the house, feeling the warmth of the fireplace. wash
over their sore and tired bodies. Tang quickly walked over to the bookshelf, spent a good five minutes
staring intently looking at books, finally chose a title and then promptly collapsed into an armchair and
began to read. Monkey started cartwheeling all over the house and got the villager’s exotic purple and red
mat dirty, and it looked more of a reddish brown after Monkey had trampled over it. Tang yelled at
Monkey but didn’t get out of his chair. Pigsy was offered food by the villager and he eagerly agreed, as he
snatched the bread out of his hand. Sandy engaged in conversation with the local, and he seemed to relax a
bit more when he found someone to talk to, considering Monkey had wrec