Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 350

Gone
Singapore International School, Ng, Xiuyu Jamie – 13
“Please don’t take my baby girl!”
“Gemma! No! Come back!”
“Mei mei!”
I
wake in cold sweat. The nightmares, once faded to the background, have now resurfaced, frequently haunting my dreams the
closer I get to the Northern Gate. Rays of orange and yellow bathe the room in a strange glow, telling me the time is dawn.
Perfect to start moving.
I grab my small rucksack before leaving the last handful of silver coins on the table, and I am out of the door. The gate is only a
miles walk from where I am, and soon, I will be reunited with my family, and away from the horrible Japanese men that captured
me so long ago.
When I was only 12, the Japanese broke through the Southern Walls, and raided the entire city. They took our food, clothes,
silverware, money and a hostage of ten girl. I was one of them, ripped from my parents arms, the guards ignored my cries for mercy,
choosing instead to knock me out. When I woke, we were in a small carriage, being taken to another part of China where the
Japanese ruled. Us ten girls were unceremoniously dumped into individual cells at the basement of a worn down manor, our food
being bland soup and stale bread. My family’s cries of helplessness rang in my ears each passing night.
We were all finally released ten years later, when it became apparent no one was looking for us. We were thrown out onto the
streets, left to fend for ourselves and find our way back. By pure miracle, I had made it, surviving on the meagre amount of coins
I had.
Suddenly, a faint buzzing and rumbling sound snaps me out of my thoughts. My head lifts up, and I quicken my pace, getting
closer and closer to my destination. As I do so, the incessant noise increases in volume, that I have to draw up my hood to try and
block it out in vain. Shouts in Shanghainese can be heard, something about...demolishing? I hurriedly round the last bend-and
stumble back, startled.
There is a large, gaping hole in the protective walls surrounding my hometown, and it is getting larger by the minute, workers
breaking down the stone. Bewildered, I cross the bridge, and slowly walk along the familiar road to home. Except, my surroundings
are not familiar at all. The grand pavilions are gone, replaced by sturdy, drab cottages. The bright street lights damaged, being torn
down by unknown faces of a construction group. I do not recognize anyone. Guang He, Shi Min, Jie Lun, the kind lady at the tea
shop. They are nowhere to be found, vanished from the ghost of this town.
“Gemma!” I hear a voice.
The familiar brown eyes of Liu Xia, my classmate from long ago, greet me.
“Liu Xia? Thank god you are here, what is going on?” I whisper in confusion.
“Come inside Gemma, you have missed much. I am so glad to see you.” She is smiling but her eyes are drowning in pity...pity
for...me?
She leads me into one of the new cottages and sits me down on the couch.
“Wait here, I will pour you some tea.” And she bustles off into the kitchen.
I nod numbly, looking around at the living space. As if in a trance, I get up from the couch, and slowly walk towards the window.
Long ago, the scenery would have been amazing, but now, all I see is destruction. The old walls are almost all demolished, pavilions
and temples destroyed. My home is unrecognizable, changed, built anew and it makes me sick.