The City That Never Slept
Harrow International School Hong Kong , Law , Mei - 14
S hanghai city was calm , despite the automobile horns , the bicycle rings and the tram bells . Shanghai was home to some of China ’ s most beautiful architectural treasures , which were proudly on display at all times . It was truly a sight to behold , and the community knew that one would have to be extraordinarily foolish to take such gifts for granted .
Each morning consisted of trams loitering outside busy markets flourishing with exotic fruits and artists who resided on cobblestone pavements to capture the vibrancy of Shanghai . These paintings were often sold to visitors ( or the local families who enjoyed filling their homes with fine art ).
And at night , the shops would switch on their neon lights and floods of women would flock to markets , and seas of men would push their ways into pubs . Children on bicycles would cycle under the moonlight , exploring outside the fence that mother had told them not to cross , picking up frogs and insects and playing football in the field .
Despite the constant buzz of the city , it was orderly . Everyone knew what he or she was doing , from the ladies who sold hand-painted umbrellas outside the town hall to the business men who ran to catch the tram in the morning . And although the commotion would never stop , it never wore out ; at sunrise simply resetting as the golden sun would wake and stretch its honey rays over the city , always just enough to catch the windows and play tricks on mischievous shadows .
It could best be described as outer space ; tranquil , beautiful and perhaps a little mysterious . Where the planets methodically circle the Sun , yet never once collide . It almost resembled a lone astronaut witnessing the glittering stars that reflect and refract the golden rays from the Sun . And although the sun would disappear behind the shadows , the city never slept .
Mei Ling was on her way to the tailors little shop just down the road from her spacious house . If there was one thing the city knew , it was that Mei liked to dress up . She went to the tailor ’ s every week , each time requesting a more intricate dress , a more exquisite hairpin . She was married to Mr Ling . Mr Ling did not tell people his first name . He left the house only after 11pm , where he would make his way down to a bar and drink into the early hours of the day , always leaving in darkness , with a half drunken bottle wrapped in a newspaper .
Mei Ling was not happy and many suspected she was uncomfortable in her marriage . This , however , did not stop her from pursuing her own interests , which mostly consisted of going out to dinner parties and entertaining guests .
Mei saw the city changing . She knew that everything was unfolding from the tranquil community into something more menacing . She saw the planets crossing paths . She watched a shadow , of at first an insignificant gloom , evolve into a seemingly infinite nothingness . Mei knew everything was about to change . Mei witnessed the slow , almost torturous , engulfing of the planet by the swelling black hole , and the chaos that followed .
The silent enveloping of the planet had triggered turmoil . Behind the obscurity of the black hole , planets and asteroids were colliding and the crashing of the two bodies threw rocks and remains . The serene atmosphere was quickly swallowed by the deafening sound of destruction .
Hongqi Lao was called 3 hours after the murder of Mei Ling ; a respectable detective whom the community relied on to solve the case . Hongqi examined the scene . Mei lay on the carpet , her cold arms by her side . There was dried blood on her head , about 2 hours old according to Hongqi . There were no signs or trauma or struggling , he added . Judging from her RMB2000 dress , she had been out that night . It was 5 in the morning , and not even the neighbours had risen yet .
Hongqi decided to interrogate her acquaintances .
He first called her neighbour , who told him that she heard a bottle crashing at around 2:30am . She claims it was so loud that it woke her children , but she thought nothing of it and returned to her slumber .
The lady who ran the fruit market , Chengguang , was summoned next . Chengguang said that she knew Mei very well , and that she bought fruit from her stall everyday : melon , apple , oranges and such . She said that Mei always bought dragon fruit because it was her husband ’ s favourite .