Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 73

A Salmon's Journey
International School of Nanshan Shenzhen, Lee, Seung Jun - 17
I
t was raining on a summer day. To my misfortune, the umbrella I had was broken and I was soaking in
the heavy rain. Suddenly I heard strange noises, I looked around only to see crows uttering furious cries
as if they were scorning at me. “God damn crows!” I hit them using my umbrella and they immediately
flew away. I should have realized that it was a bad omen and just have gone home. However, I could barely
think at that time, so I stepped towards the office.
As soon as I entered the office, Mr. Lee began to throw a tantrum. “You arrived! Look at yourself, you
look like a mouse soaked in water!” Mr. Lee mocked me. I tried explaining to him why I was late, but he
refused to listen to my explanation and just sat down on his chair. To redeem my myself for being left, I
arranged the documents “perfectly” and went Mr. Lee’s table. Contrary to my relaxed look, Mr. Lee looked
serious on his phone.
‘Damn, I came at the wrong time.’ Without surprise, Mr. Lee started yelling at me after his call was over.
“You know what my boss just said about our post?” I shook my head to show him I didn’t know. “He said
we are the worst in this company! What is this terrible document? Are you kidding me? Do it again!” Mr.
Lee yelled and threw the documents I perfectly arranged at my face. I noticed that he didn’t even try to read
my documents. It’s in situations like this where I wonder if I should leave this company? Even though I
really want to, I can’t since I must earn for my family.
After I finished my daily work, I went to grab a beer with my old friend. “Friend, my life is so difficult these
days. Mr. Lee blames me for everything I do and now I’m even afraid to go to company.” I complained
about my life to my friend. “I think you should find a new job. What was your dream before?” He asked
me. “It was to be a photographer.” I replied.
“Yeah! Photographer. Just leave that stupid company and do what you want.” He tried to give me tons of
advices but I knew I couldn’t just listen to him and live free. “Shut up. I have my family! Suggest something
realistic.” Even though I knew I shouldn’t have said that, I couldn’t control my anger so I stormed out of
the bar.
My friend suggested that I take an umbrella, but I ignored him and began to walk home with faltering steps.
When I got home, what I encountered was not a comfortable haven, but the anger of my wife. “How come
your home so late? Did you drink with your? friend again? Do you remember what day is today? Of course,
you don’t” my wife whimpered and said to me. “Just a second, what’s the date today? July 26th.” Oh, no!
Today was my wife’s birthday, I totally forgot about it. I went to our bedroom to apologize to her but she
kicked me out. “Damn! What is wrong with my life! Maybe I need some sort of diversion.” I went to the
computer room and booted up my computer. I looked through the news while smoking a cigarette. I knew
it wasn’t good for my body, but this is the only way I could relieve my stress. When I was about to finish
my third cigarette, I was scrolling down the news and one photo caught my eye. It was the photo of salmon
swimming up the river.
This photo reminded me of something that happened when I was young. At that time, innocence and
dream were still a thing to me. I went to the riverside with my father who was a photographer. He wanted
to take pictures of salmon going back to the river. While my father set up the camera and tried to find a
good place to take a photo, I was sitting beside the river and looking at the salmons. Between the g roup of
salmons, one of the salmon caught my eyes. It’s back was shiny like a silvery rug. I stood gazing at it’s
beautiful color. To my surprise, that silvery salmon swam towards me. I was so surprised and couldn't resist
saying “hi” to the silvery salmon. I knew I shouldn’t expect a reply, but I heard something say hi back to
me. In that time, I couldn’t believe my ears. I clapped 10 times to check if my ears were playing a trick on
me; but there wasn't a problem with my ears. “Are you talking to me, silvery salmon?” I asked to the voice
that I assumed was that of the silvery salmon. “Yes, I am talking to you, little human. What are you doing
over here?” Silvery salmon asked me. I noticed that it wasn’t actually talking with its mouth but rather
communicating with telepathy. I was able to hear the salmon’s voice from my head and not from my ears. “I
am waiting for my father! He came here to take picture of your friends because he is photographer!” I
chattered to silvery salmon. “What is a photographer?” the silvery salmon inquired. “Umm… it is a human
who holds a machine that can save appearance of other things.” I tried explaining as best as I could. “Oh, I
heard about humans with machines from my friends. I like them because they respect our salmons not like
human with a fishing rod” the silvery salmon exulted. “I have a question. How is your father? I am curious
because salmons never meet with their parents” the silvery salmon asked in a sad tone. While I was thinking
about how to comfort the poor thing, the silvery salmon said something. “Sorry, I think I have to go now.
Little human, can you do me a favor?” The silvery salmon pleaded.