Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 13

A Journey to the west
Buddhist Sin Tak College, Shiu, Haruka - 15
‘D
ad, I hate you!’ yelled Mia as she stormed out of the house.
‘Mia! We can negotiate!’ James howled.
Mia got into her car and shot an angry look to her father. ‘If you truly care about me, dad, you will let me
go.’ She shot one last look to her father and her partner drove away on full speed.
James shook his head and sighed. Her daughter was a hot tempered girl, yet he knew his daughter will come
back home after a day or two eventually. It has always been like that.
That gave James a little hope, like always, but little did he know, his daughte r will never come back.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A loud knock awoke James, who was sleeping. He thought Mia would be at the doorstep, but instead he
found two grim-faced policemen waiting outside and three police cars waiting next to the garden.
‘ NYPD, we would like to know if Mr. James Stone is here,’ One policeman flashed his badge.
‘I am,’ hesitated James.
‘We have news to deliver, Mr Stone,’ another policeman replied.
‘Mia, is dead?’ James muttered silently. He was arguing with her two days ago. Her voice still present in his
head, the fierce look she gave still lingering in his eyes. James tried to figure out what was happening but his
brain somehow shut down. All he could think of was blank, nothing more.
‘We found her body in the Mermen Lake, we found her ID card in her pocket, we believe she drowned…
sir? Sir?’
However, the policeman’s voice only slipped through James’ ears, like a breeze of wind. He lost track of time
and fell into an endless black hole which was just only him and the darkness. All the comfort words he heard
were only heartless buzzes of a broken machine to him.
The police ruled Mia’s death as an accident and the case was closed. Mia’s poor body was cremated with
James keeping her ashes and built a grave next to her deceased mother. Every day, James lived in the shadow
of guilt and grief. He was also exhausted from the interrogations by the police.
However, James hid one thing from the police: an unspoken truth.
After Mia’s funeral, James submerged himself into endless heavy alcohol drinking. He lost himself in he
darkness without Mia, life was meaningless for James.
‘Hey,’ a voice drew James’ attention from work. ‘Are you ok? How are you holding up?’ She asked as she took
a seat next to James, she had a calm face and showed sympathy.
‘Who are you?’ James asked suspiciously, he was quite certain he had never seen her before but her voice was
familiar.
‘Oh James,’ the woman sighed. ‘Don’t let sorrow rule over your mind. I am your colleague, Brigid, and I care
about you. I know a great friend who can ease your pain, she is kind of a therapist yet she is great.’
She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down something quickly and gave the memo to James.