After what seemed to be an eternity , I came across a house . Metal railing , a grass courtyard five times the size of our house , a three story house . There was no denying that it looked like it belonged to the richest man in town . I wiped the sweat off my face and knocked the door . Right away , a man with long blonde hair , a scraggly beard and dark circles under his eyes opened the door . With a nervous look and voice somehow coarser than the man Baba and I worked for , he quickly took the package went behind the door , grabbed a wad of paper bills , gave them to me and shut the door . Weird . Usually they ’ d inspect the contents of the box first .
But that ’ s business ! Just like what our boss says whenever he doesn ’ t give Baba his money on time . “ There ’ s no time to waste !” I think to myself as I rush back to the docks where I ’ d get another order to deliver . The weather today was great , no clouds , warm weather . As I looked up at the sky , I saw a warplane . I had never seen one of those before , especially with colours like that . I wasn ’ t the only one that has noticed this , as many other people on the street have stopped dead in their tracks to look up as well . Everyone was cheering and clapping in self-pride and patriotism , until the plane started shooting at all of us .
All of a sudden , everyone was panicking . The constant streaming sound of bullets striking the air and the ground next to me deafened my ears . But there was something worse . The screams of fear and screams of pain of innocent people that I will never forget . As I did my best in dodging and running away from the bullets , the plane overhead passed me to reign terror on the rest of Shanghai . I was still running , running away from everything I had witnessed , everything I had heard . I ran as fast as I could , turning a corner , through an alley and turning a corner again . I heard marching , heard a language I ’ ve never heard of before . I saw soldiers , marching in sync , wearing uniform with the same colours I saw on that plane . I ran back the opposite direction .
In the corner of my eye , I saw a trapdoor . I go in . Panting harder than I ever , I closed the trapdoor behind me and layed down on the cold , hard floor . I couldn ’ t see anything , not that I did want to see anything . The sight of people in panic was already enough for me . It was cold and humid inside , inside wherever I was , and I was deprived and tired . The echos of every move I made could be heard , as I was dragging myself along the floor . I could hear the faint sounds of bullets being fired as I fall asleep .
When I woke up again , with my tears dried on my face , everything was silent . But I realised something ; I needed to find my Baba . As I quickly felt my way across the walls to find the trapdoor , I opened it and got out . It was nighttime and the stars were out . No longer were there the sounds of people panicking , the sounds of gunfire and the sounds of marching . But all I could hear were the chirps of crickets . As I looked down from the sky , I saw that the alley I once hid in was gone . What was now left were a pile of bricks .
But I couldn ’ t care less , because I had to find my Baba . I thought about where I saw him last . As I think to myself ... The docks ! He must have been at the docks . I ran , I ran faster than I did when the warplane attacked . As I dashed past the old and battered streets of Shanghai , where the markets once used to be but are now just bullet holed fireplace , I headed in the direction of the ocean . As I headed closer and closer , I heard something and saw light . Could that be my Baba ?
As I approached the entrance of the docks , I noticed that the place was now surrounded by barbed wire , and smelled heavily of fish . Then , I heard a man shouting loudly in Mandarin , with a heavy accent that I have never heard of before . I slowly creeped around the barbed wire fence as delicately and as quietly as a mouse , as the shouting sound became louder and louder . Then I see my Baba .
Although I initially thought that I would have been in joy seeing my Baba again , I actually wished I had never seen him since the plane attacked . His head was bent over and a man who seemed to be Japanese held a machete in his hand , over Baba ’ s head . Baba was red all over , especially his face . He had more sweat on his face than I had ever seen , dripping down his neck . Then , the man lowered his machete , and took Baba ’ s head off .
Something came off his neck . A string tied into a circle loop , with a kite-shaped pearl green emerald in the middle . It was a necklace . One of the Japanese soldiers picked it up , made a joke , scoffed at it , and threw it out . It landed just close enough for me to have picked it up , in between the holes of the wire fence . I picked it up , and with fresh blood dripping down the necklace , I wore it .