Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 150

The next week, however, Camellia still went to Jessfield Park on time. She saw Aeneas sitting on the grass,
staring blankly into the distance. Just the sight of him made Camellia happy, but at the same time it made her
miserable and hopeless. Determined, she decided to put an end to this. She strode up to Aeneas, trying to be
expressionless. "Aeneas," she bit her lower lip. "Oh, hi!" Aeneas' cheerful expression made Camellia bit her lip
even harder, "I think ... this is the last time ..." Words fell out from her trembling lips. Before Camellia could
finish, Aeneas took her hand and ran towards the woods. Surprised, Camellia asked, "Where're we going?" " To
my secret base!" Aeneas replied with a naughty smile.
Soon, they arrived at a garden, where numerous enchanting and blushing flowers were blooming. In the middle
of these gorgeous flowers was a gigantic tree filled with white blossoms, sitting proudly on the perch among the
polished brown branches. Stunned by the majestic beauty of the tree, Camellia was unable to say a single word.
"I'm glad that you love it," Aeneas smiled, "you don't seem very happy these days, so I thought this scenery will
cheer you up." He went over the tree and sat under it. Camellia followed. "This is the magnolia tree. Doesn't it
look great? Not many people know about this place. I always come here when I'm upset. It never fails to cheer
me up." He turned to Camellia, "I was born in a poor family. I have to work in order to make a living, so I don't
have time for school," he started talking about himself. "That's why I love reading so much. It taught me a lot.
Something that I couldn't learn at school."
He stopped talking, and picked up a magnolia landed beside him. "I don't know why you're upset, but please
remember one thing." He put the magnolia on Camellia's hair.
"Please believe in living today, not in yesterday, nor in tomorrow. You won't know what'll happen tomorrow,
so make good use of the time. Live in the present and make it beautiful." He gazed into Camellia's eyes, and
continued, "Be yourself, don't live for anyone. Live for yourself, do what you want, as you only live once." He
stopped for a moment, and grinned, "I learn all these from books. You'll always be happy if you live like this."
Camellia was greatly touched. Tears filled her eyes. Yet, she hid her true feelings behind her tears.
A week later, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out. That was 7th July, 1937.
At that time, Shanghai wasn't attacked yet. However, everyone panicked. Hundreds and thousands of them fled
across the border to Hong Kong. Some of them remained in Shanghai, where Camellia was one of them. She
tried to find Aeneas, but it was impossible in such utter chaos. All she'd found was a note, hidden in one of
Aeneas' favourite books, "Don't worry, we'll meet again someday. I promise." It was written in a hurry before
Aeneas left, as she could see the handwriting was quite messy. When Camellia first saw the note, she froze like a
stone. Then she started crying. Her tears landed on the words and they became blurry. She cried, and cried, and
cried, as if Aeneas could hear her and come back for her.
Time flew. Eight years passed. The war had ended, but Camellia still hadn't found Aeneas. She was engaged to a
rich man instead. It wasn't her own wish, but she had to save her family, which was brought low by the war. It
might actually be her own wish as well, since she didn't know whether Aeneas remembered the promise or not.
Maybe he'd already forgotten her. Maybe he wasn't waiting for her anymore. Maybe he had his own family
somewhere...she didn't know. As a girl, Camellia was taught to grin and bear it, and she mustn't resist even if it
was against her wishes. Therefore, she ended up having the big, sparkling ring on her finger.
Camellia's thoughts came back to the present. 'So it ends here,' she thought. Slowly, she stood up, scraped away
the leaves on her skirt, and was ready to step into her new journey.
The tales of old Shanghai should end here—
But it didn't.