Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 130

into his throat. The soldier clutched at his throat, choking. His face turned purple, and his lifeless body slumped to
the ground.
The man looked up and stared at me through the bushes with a spiteful look on his face. He grabbed his gun and
ran up to me. So close that his breath engulfed me in a truly putrid odour. “You didn’t see anything.” He thrusted
the gun into my chest, the impact was so hard I fell backwards.
I knew it coming, but it caught me off guard. I felt the tip make contact with my stomach, smashing my organs
together. I felt blood vessels burst and my ribs collapse under the force. My breath instantly left me straining as I
doubled over. My knees buckled from the blow, as I deflated like a balloon, I heard a cracking sound coming up
from inside of me. I tasted dirt, adrenaline and a hint of blood.
I took a deep breath. My chest was throbbing uncontrollably. I exhaled, inhaled again, moved my arms under me
and pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. My hands were shaking. My head was swimming. I felt my
stomach clench and I threw up fresh blood, which hurt even more. I stayed in that position a while, on my hands
and knees, with my head hanging low. My eyes focused, I crawled up the dead soldier gradually, pausing every few
seconds to regain my strength.
When I finally stood up, the man had disappeared. Instead, a thriving mass of people were surrounding me,
pulsating with powerful energy. A group of soldiers pushed their way through the crowd, they looked at the
soldier lying on the ground. Their eyes narrowed as they saw the gun dripping with blood beside me.
They forced my arms behind my back, and threw me on the ground. “You got the wrong person! He went that
away!” I screamed. The group of soldiers shook their heads, one of them came up close to me and said, “you killed
him”.
They shoved me into a truck and started to drive, “where are you taking me?” I screamed. They laughed and they
never answered my question. Looking at all of the fields and trees zip past made my eyelids feel heavier. My
thoughts slowly became deluded, and started to change, my body sunk deeper and deeper into sleep.
---
There was a bright light in my eyes. I opened them to reveal the monstrous face of someone towering over me. He
grasped my arm, “Fai, it’s me” he whispered.
My eyes focused and saw the sergeant . “W-wh-what?” I stuttered.
The sergeant dropped his gaze. “Fai, don’t you remember me? I guess you wouldn’t, we left when you were still
quite young.” He hesitated. “Fai, I am your father. You don’t have much time, I am going to loosen the noose,
you slip out as soon as possible, and swim as far and as fast as you can, I will come get you afterwards.”
From up close, I noticed the wrinkles and folds of skin next to his eyes. He looked like a balloon deprived it’s
helium, sagged and deflated. It was quite surprising me to find him like this.
The sergeant yanked me towards the edge of the bridge, and tied the noose around my neck. “Good luck”, he
whispered.
Time passed vigorously, I stopped and plunged into deep thoughts at the realisation of what was coming. My mind
buzzed with thoughts but I managed to focus on one: ”I will come get you afterwards.” My heart was