Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 359

cannon sounded and he was shot out of the air, he turned over and crashed down among the ruins. Many of his apprentices were
also killed under their guns but some survived luckily. The people shrieked and ran.
‘‘Who dares to flee shall be beheaded,’’ Prince Asaka snarled.
Suddenly a risky idea came to mind. I shared my idea with my friend, Charles, as he was good at swordfighting. We went
into the office of the Japanese where Charles and I hid behind the door. When we saw two soldiers approaching, we knocked
them out. After that we put on their suits. Later we saw some confidential information about their attacks around the world.
They planned to plant bombs in different places. Just as we were flipping through the pages, someone shouted, ‘‘Intruders!’’
We sheathed our swords and quickly outran them. After that we assembled the remaining members of the Ancient
Society. We called ourselves the Rebellion. Together we struck back at the Japanese soldiers. When the soldiers rushed at us,
we unsheathed our swords swiftly. As we lacked people and were using swords against guns and bombs, we were soon
overpowered. The sinister Prince Asaka deployed more soldiers. One day, he sent a muscular soldier against me. He lunged
forwards, attacking me with a rapid flurry of stabs, trying to drive me backwards, I dodged aside.
Our weapons clanged and clashed. Then he jabbed and I stumbled backwards and blocked clumsily. He advanced once more,
pushing my blade aside, then I tripped over and I cried out. There were gasps from the Rebellion fighters. Fear swelled inside
me. He let out a mocking laugh and drew back his sword to lash it down over my throat. But before he could strike, a gun
sounded. The bullet was embedded in the soldier’s forehead. I followed the direction to where the bullet came from and looked
wide-eyed at the soldier who saved me. He was breathing hard. Shortly after introducing himself as Morse, he said that he had
some loyal friends who pitied the people of Shanghai and decided to help us.
So they joined us and we captured the soldiers. We even destroyed the bombs they had planned to detonate and put the
pesky Prince Asaka into jail. Though we did not defeat all of them, Japan eventually surrendered in 1945. But then, because the
United States wanted to destroy all the Japanese soldiers, it dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese cities. They even wanted
to drop bombs on Shanghai as they realized that there were a lot of soldiers there as well. Before that, many innocent casualties
were found.
Little did I know that Morse was not just a mere Japanese soldier, he was an extraordinary man. He had incredible powers
and he healed the people one by one. We were fascinated. Then when we knew Shanghai would soon perish, he made a
swiveling portal of fire which we went through to a European country. We went through the portal. His fellow companions
began to commit suicide before the nuclear bomb blew up.
I asked him to come with us but he said, ‘‘it is only a matter of time. The people of the United States would soon discover
me. I am willing to do this for the forgiveness of Japan’s sins.’’
From the moment he said this phrase, the atomic bomb sounded in the distance and the bomb cloud was approaching.
‘‘Farewell, my friend.’’
Then Morse pushed me through the fading portal and it was the last time I ever saw him. The people and I were touched.
After that I never returned to Shanghai even after the city had been rebuilt. Today, I am 305 years old. I am living in the
United States in the year 2117, where technologies have developed increasingly fast due to an economic boom. I have at least