Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 124

We Found Love
Maryknoll Convent School (Secondary Section), Choy, Sonia - 16
T
he group of four misfits stood at the opening of the cave, breathing heavily. After eighty challenges
they had finally made it here, the ultimate destination of a spiritual journey. The stories had told
that they would find their spirits lifted once they find what they have come for. They met along
the way, three young geeks and a man leading vastly different lives before they set off for the mountains and
the mysterious cave inside it.
Charlie was surprised at his indifference when they reached the cave. He was the one who began the
journey first, and yet he had a gut feeling that it was going all awry and wrong at the final place. The
journey was long and hard, months of wandering countries and cities, finding scraps and a little bit of
warmth from the slums. He wasn’t interested in being the first one, and so ushered in the kids before
entering the cave himself.
The cave was wet and cold, reminding Charlie of the attic he lived in as a child, where water dripped from
the ceiling in those chilly winter nights. Yet it also had a haunting beauty to it, made entirely of marble and
limestone, carved into intricate patterns by nature and weather. The ground was slippery and he asked the
kids to hold on to what they can- he himself was long used to walking on wet ground.
Charlie shivered slightly at the sudden cold breeze. The weather still attacked them relentlessly, even at the
very end. He hugged his jacket a little closer as they descended towards the center of the Earth, the kids still
chattering in hushed voices in front of him. He prefered not to join in the conversation; he was never a man
of many words.
The cave got progressively darker as they walked on. The previous warm yellow glow was gone, as the kids
had their arms around each other. More and more unpleasant memories floated back to Charlie. He found
dark spaces all too familiar, from the countless times he had been shoved into dark alleys in rough
neighbourhoods, more than usually followed by bad things to him.
“Charlie, you okay?” Shelby turned and asked, her voice filled with concern.
“I’m great. We’re almost there.” Charlie tried to sound hopeful, but he was actually far too tired to feel
anything. They followed a winding path that led to a deep cavern. The kids stopped at the entrance, looking
to Charlie as he caught up with them. He gestured for them to go in first, preferring to take the rear. He
was, admittedly, slightly nervous.
The cavern was lit up in warm red and gold flecks, but with cold blue hints. It was something cold and
distant and alien to all of them, and the kids shied away, stopping at the entrance. Charlie walked on- he
figured it wouldn’t make any difference to him, whatever he saw. He finally managed to find the source of
the light- four glowing stones.
Charlie walked towards the table and picked one of them up- a blue stone with jagged edges and pointed
corners. The others were rounded and well-grinded, much more welcoming than the icy blue one he
picked up. But he found himself drawn to its roughness, how it was not as rounded and polished as the
others. The kids later followed from behind, each of them picking up a stone, speechless as they held it in
their hands.
“That’s it?” Ken asked incredulously, clinching the red stone in his right palm. “Doesn’t seem spiritual at all
to me.”