Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 220

She was once again staring at the river when her sharp eyes spotted a small object, a peony floating on top of
it, meandering slowly towards her. A gift, perhaps, from her father in heaven?
But did she dare? She peeked nervously at the Building behind her, then crawled slowly towards the
river. There was no landing, just a steep, grassy slope. She hesitated for a while. If she fell, would she end
up the same way as her father? She shrugged to herself. She just wanted to see him again.
---
Peony wasn’t afraid any more. She was determined to get the object - she could see that it was actually a
thick book. An encouragement to learn how to read, perhaps? She wound her hand around a thick vine
and lowered herself down slowly.
A boat passed by underneath her. The boatman saw a young girl clinging like a gecko to a steep wall of dirt
and grass, and he called out to her. Then, afraid it would startle her, he stopped, though he didn’t stop
worrying about her long after she had disappeared from sight.
Peony felt dizzy all of a sudden. The river seemed very deep and far below. Though she wanted to see her
father, she didn’t want to drown. Across the river, Peony could hear the sound of village men tilling the
earth, ready for a new season’s worth of planting. Thwock. Thwock. Thwock. The steady sound soothed
her, made her feel better. She slowly opened her eyes and lowered herself down a little more.
The loud groan of a water buffalo broke her concentration. She jerked upwards slightly, and as she fell, her
weight broke the already-strained vine. The earth under her feet loosened, and she scrabbled around for a
second before the ground fell away. Peony screamed, but no-one heard it.
Her foot caught on a small branch, and Peony flipped over, falling almost head-first into the water. Her
hand crushed the peony on the book, her namesake. The book ended up next to Peony’s head. She
grabbed at it, hugging it, for of course she didn’t know how to swim. The book, now weighed down,
dragged her under the water and into the depths below.
---
Peony was blind in the swirling waters around her. The river was deeper than she’d thought, but the sun
shone down onto the water, causing it to be pleasantly warm, and Peony, somehow, began to
relax. Suddenly, as if a curtain was lifted from her eyes, she could see she was in a deep and vast ocean,
small fish swimming about her, and when she breathed the water felt like air in her lungs.
Was this where my father went? Twirling around in the clear, warm waters, she could see it was heaven.
Ahead of her, she could see a massive palace, with great, swooping pagodas, high pillars and arches, just as
she’d thought heaven would look like. A mighty dragon was emblazoned on its roof, coiled in a loop over
and over on itself.
A high-pitched laugh came from her left. Peony turned her head. It was a small monkey, with a golden
mane and age-old eyes, sitting atop a small, white cloud steed.
“Behold, the Monkey King of Flower Fruit Mountain!” said the monkey. “And who are you?” he said,
pointing a long, slender finger.
Peony stayed silent.
“Peony? A most lovely name. And you can trust me, you know,”
Peony frowned. There was no point staying silent if the stranger could read her mind.