Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 321

“I have no idea why you blame me. I only come here sometimes, often in spring. When I first came to Shanghai, I
was snowy-white in colour, smelled of fresh grass and did nobody any harm.”
God said, “Then what happened?
How come you are not white anymore, but yellow-black?”
“As I was saying, recently, I’ve been getting dirtier and dirtier, and started to smell pungent. Try as I might, I can’t seem
to do anything to get rid of the colour or the smell.” After a brief pause, he added, “I didn’t do anything”, summarising
what he had said before.
“Obviously not!
victims.”
You are clearly guilty. The dirt and the smell are pollutants and smoke, which you used to kill your
Ying nodded her agreement. “This makes sense. There’s no point denying it, Fog,”
“That wasn’t me. As I said, I used to be white. I didn’t want to turn yellow, to smell appalling,”
God then proceeded to say all sorts of things, to ‘prove’ Fog’s guilt, with Ying speaking in approval. Fog tried to voice
his opinions from time to time, but God would always shout him down. Both were starting to get angry. You could
tell by the redness of their cheeks. Fog was starting to get impatient, but he restrained himself.
Finally, he could take it no longer. “Look,” he said. “I have already stated my innocence. So, you may ask, who is to
blame? The companies who made the pollution and smoke, of course. The power plants, burning fossil fuels to
generate electricity, and the factories too,” He paused, twirling his finger, and God quickly said, “But-” but had no time
to say any more, for Fog shot him a dirty look, eager to get on with his speech. He continued, “The entrepreneurs are
partially to blame, for directly creating the pollution. But why did the power plants need to make electricity in the
first place? Because of the ordinary people,”
Now he pointed at Ying. “Even though they – individuals like her – didn’t directly cause the greenhouse gas, they are
to be blamed too. What about the automobiles they use? Many people now have them, and they emit clouds of
black, choking and foul gas. But what about the government and lawmakers? Did they make any laws regarding this
matter? Probably not. If they did, then what about the enforcement? The carrying out of the law? Did they do
anything?”
God fell silent. It seemed that Fog’s words had truth in it. He seemed to sag (can statues sag?), knowing he was
beaten. Fog, having made his point, flew out of the window. Ying stared into his wake. Whether she liked it or not,
his words made sense. She strode home briskly, playing Fog’s words in her mind again and again. And yet she was an
ordinary citizen. What could she do?
I woke with a start, panting. I blinked, looking out the window. It was about six o’clock, and the sun had come up,
but it was already foggy. Fog, I thought, suddenly remembering my dream. It was a strange dream. Smog is causing
lots of damage in modern-day China. It seemed to fit so perfectly into my dream. I thought about what Fog had
said. He had said that there was a lack of legislations or enforcements to address these issues and end user demand. I
made up my mind. I was going to protect the generations to come – and do it well.