Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 294

Win at the Starting Line
St. Mary's Canossian College, Hung, Charmaine - 14
I
n the blink of an eye, Xuanzang, Monkey King, Pigsy, Friar Sand and Yulong returned to the Buddha
in Tang. The golden sunlight poured on them, which was the commendation of their achievement.
The soothing breezes drifted by, bringing their memories back the beginning of their journey, and they
started to tell their story…
Eight years ago, the Buddha in Tang asked Xuanzang to travel to India and take the Buddhist sutras of
"transcendence and persuasion for good will" back to the East. Accompanied by Monkey King, Pigsy, Friar
Sand and Yulong the white horse, Xuanzang passed the border of Tang and reached a desert.
Hours later, heat and fatigue permeated their entire bodies thoroughly. Looking out at the boundless sky,
Pigsy suddenly burst out,
“Look! A huge dish is flying in the sky! It’s absolutely extraordinary! Perhaps the Gautama Buddha sent us
a dish of water and food to help us?”
“Poor Pigsy! Your mind must be totally eroded by hunger that you are seeing things!” exclaimed Friar
Sand.
Monkey King squinted his eyes, staring under the blazing sun. “Wait… Pigsy is right. There’s really a giant
dish coming closer to us! It may be a monster!” He turned to Xuanzang and said, “Master, I’ll ride my Jin
Dou Cloud and go and have a look!”
Monkey King landed on the rim of the flying dish. Within the rim, there was a dome with windows
surrounding it. He looked through a window and was totally awestruck. Three children inside did not look
like monsters, but were in the strangest costumes he had ever seen: fit, straight clothes and trousers, unlike
those loose and creased ones that he was wearing. That was not enough. There were monster-looking
machines with many surfaces that emitted light and even changed what was shown on them automatically.
Monkey King knocked on the window hard. A boy noticed him and opened the door for him.
The boy seemed to beam with delight, “See who has come!” The other two kids came over. “Hi Monkey
King! So glad to meet you here! I’m David. Welcome to our UFO! Oh yes, why are you alone? Where are
Xuanzang, Pigsy and Friar Sand?”
“Hmm… Why do you know us?” Monkey King got suspicious.
“Of course I know you! We are from A.D. 2100!”
“What’s that?”
“Well, we’re actually students from 1400 years later than when we are now. Our teachers assigned us on a
field trip to Tang Dynasty through time travel for a history research and we’ve just been exploring around.
Want to travel with us to A.D. 2100? No worries. We’re not monsters! We’re Hong Kong people. Erm… I
bet you don’t know where it is, but we’re all Chinese like you!” replied another child, Jane.
“I see… I’d like to bring along my master and companions. Would you mind taking them with us as
well?”
“Not at all!”
So the UFO moved on until they spotted the three people below and landed on the desert.