Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 180

The New Tales of Old Shanghai - Under the Sky
Malvern College Qingdao, Lu, Novia – 14
I
t was a dark winter’s day. Below the blue sky, thick, yellow fog hung low on the streets of Shanghai.
Wide-eyed, I sat staring out from the old, rickety rickshaw - an expensive kind of transport only reserved
for the wealthy. My mother was next to me, like always. Her long, blonde hair brushed over her shoulders and
her dark blue eyes met the road in front. She rarely showed emotion but no matter what, she always made me
feel comfortable. I leaned softly against her, she had a queer old-fashioned thoughtfulness deep in the eyes. I
only wish I knew what about but all I could do was imagine. Maybe she was questioning the very same thing as
me - why am I here? She shot me a glance, and said, “You are very similar to me…” These words did not
resonate with me, and sometimes I’d prefer to call her Mrs. Cedric, rather than mom.
I am Cornelia Cedric, a girl born in China, of French descent. My mother Mrs. Cedric, is a beautiful French
lady who came to China in 1900 with her husband, Mr Cedric. He was a soldier in the Eight Power Allied
Force. I had never met him but my mom has told me his story several times. Mr. Cedric is not my father, but his
story allows me see what he was like.
After one day of cruel aggressiveness, the Cedrics were tired of killing, robbing, and burning everything -
bodies, houses, treasures. They wanted to run away and give the treasure they’ve got back to where it should be.
Unfortunately, their discussion was overheard by a stranger. When they noticed that, they went off immediately.
Mrs. Cedric succeed, Mr. Cedric, unluckily, went the wrong way and was killed. Mom escaped to Shanghai by
train. Twenty years later, she met a handsome but poor man, and at the age of 38, she had me. However, the
man, my father, threw us away. My mom sold all our things and opened a shop.
The rickshaw had arrived at the Bund, which I would be living around for a long time. As my first step made a
mark on the moist, frozen cold ground, my eyes swiveled around and I felt perplexed. The sky was full with a
rainbow of colours, and all the buildings seemed to be totally different from the traditional Chinese ones printed
in my memory. These structures were new and fresh and there was a sense of a lively atmosphere that made me
feel a bit dazed. “The Bund,” I mumbled with a voice that was soon overshadowed by the noise of others. “Do I
really belong here,” I muttered again.
“Come inside, my dear,” mom whispered softly, trying to disguise from the hundreds of people that we were
new here. I went into the house, and was led by my mom to the second floor.
I woke up with a fright in the middle of night. Outside the window, things were surrounded in mist, the bright
lights and the noise were gone - only the roar of wind could be heard. I couldn’t shake my feeling nervousness,
so I went to my mother’s room. Mrs. Cedric was having a good sleep. Nonetheless, she welcomed me into her
arms and like that, I was out like a light.
Hours later, I got up from an empty bed, the quilt was quite warm, yet a frosty pressure almost made me unable
to breathe. “Mom?” I said. No-one answered, but a letter on the the nightstand caught my attention. It has Mrs.
Cedric’s handwriting on it, “Dear my Cornelia, I am going to our old house to get our appliances. Don’t worry.
Breakfast is on the table, don’t forget to heat it before you eat.” I got off the bed, picked up some clothes hastily
and went out of the room. I saw the food on the dining table. If it was a ordinary day, I would probably run to it
and enjoy the delicacy. But this time my mind was elsewhere, I was thinking about the old house. ‘It is not too
far away…..I’m gonna go,’ I thought to myself. In a minute, I rushed out of the house running toward my
mother.
I had nearly reached my old home when a strange sound appeared. I looked up to the sky. I had never seen
anything like it before but I immediately knew what it was – an bombardment aircraft. Just as I caught my
attention on it, a bomb rained down on where my old house was supposed to be. BOOM! The first attack had