Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 291

The duo crawled up into the last train coach and peered over the railing into the window. Sensing no one inside, Fen
urged Ning to get in and under the seat quickly. They didn’t have tickets. The swaying train gradually rocked them to sleep.
They woke up ten hours later, very hungry. Stuffing a piece of momo into her mouth, Fen whispered, “Now, we need to
free your mother from the prison headquarters at Shanghai.” Ning was thinking aloud. “The prison guards wear a red and
khaki clothes with a straw hat. It’s probably easy enough to find those clothes in Shanghai. How much money do you
have?” “Umm, about 6 yuan, it’s half my mother’s salary.” Fen replied. “Perfect! I have exactly 6 yuan too!” Ning said.
Feeling positive, Ning and Fen fell asleep knowing fully well that this could be their last night alive.
“Mother!” Ning whispered. Ning and Fen, disguised as guards had snuck into the Mongolian prisoner cells. “Quick! Get
me and everybody else out of here!” Mother said. “Uh, um, wait a minute” Fen fiddled with a bobby pin from her head,
struggled to unlock the cell, but managed finally. Ning ran to her mother and hugged her tight. They were free! The
Mongolians cheered, but Fen was unusually quiet. “I... is my mother in there?” asked Fen softly. When Fen was about 7
years old, her mother had been taken prisoner. Fen had been trying to find her mother ever since. “I think so, dear! I have
made a few acquaintances here. But there’s a lady who has never spoken, is al ways veiled. I wonder...” before Ning’s mother
finished, Fen had rushed in to see the lady, veiled with her head scarf, her face barely visible. Instinctively, she shrieked,
“Mother!” The lady immediately recognized her own blood. Fen had found her mother! There wasn’t a single dry eye in
the room. Suddenly, a guard appeared in the room, he was surprised to see guards already inside the room. Looking at the
prisoners, he said, ”Err...Your names have been cleared, you’re all free to go back home, or you can choose to earn your
living in Shangai” Tears of joy flowed. It was a journey to remember. The odyssey in Shangai had just begun.
The End.