Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 397

Then silence.
Two days later, Johnny came into the shop with his mother. They were dressed in black and wore a long face. Their
sorrowful look resembled someone who had just lost a close relative. His mother came up to my father. After an exchange of
words, my father turned and approached me, picked me up, and handed me to Johnny. Without a single word, Johnny cuddled
me tightly. In his embrace, I could see no happiness but sorrow and emptiness in his rheumy eyes. With me still tightly against
his chest, they both shuffled out into the streets in total silence, to prepare for a new page in his life.