Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2017 | Page 38

The New Tales of Old Shanghai
Dulwich College Shanghai, Gao, Macus Xu – 13
1
A
rickshaw disturbs my thoughts as I sit alone. Alone in my monastery, the this was the home
that the new me lived. I stare at it, the incense starts to fade as memories flood into my mind.
Cheng zhishang, the rickshaw driver. Not the monk. The life that I lived before everything
changed.
2
It was a hot summer day, as I felt my Rickshaw weigh my shoulders down. The birds were chirping in
the air, the smell of smoke wafted into my nostrils and the taste of Shao Bing lapped onto my tongue.
Street vendors filled the streets as I weaved my way through the endless river of people that always
seemed to be present in Tian Zi Fang. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a wealthy man shouting at a
poor woman for not making his silk scarf right. The fear in the woman's eyes was visible as she
trembled and shivered. That feeling of being in control, being feared. It forced a chuckle deep in my
throat.
I did not know that something that seemed so insignificant can change my life forever.
I took a left onto a seemingly lifeless street. Not a twig moved, and not a branch swayed. Even the
color suggested a dead, inanimate space. A mix of brown and grey. There were buildings but they have
long been abandoned a some time ago. The birdsong faded and the voices of the vendors became a
distant memory. The silence was unnerving, it was as if the whole place was holding its breath. The air
was still, almost too still.
A man stepped out of the alleyway. He wore a top hat that covered most of his face, but his big ears
were noticeable. A long silk gown flowed behind him as a ring of dried monkey skulls rattled on his
belt, their last moments of anguish frozen in time. As I looked down, his pointed boots pointed back at
me. The man gave off a feeling of importance, his chest was held high and he had a haughty way of
walking. As he approached me, I could feel his aura trapping me, constricting my lungs, leaving me
frozen.
“Take me to the docks.”
His voice rumbled through me.
He glided onto his seat as if he were a ghost, only the rattle of his belt told me that he was moving. I
looked back, his eyes looked straight into mine, piercing through my body and into my soul. I quickly
turn back and run towards the docks.
By the time we reached the docks, I did not feel tired at all. Fear and adrenaline fueled me for the
whole run. He fixes his top hat, and steps gracefully off the rickshaw. I did not even realize right away
that he did not pay his fee. I finally run after him, shouting to get his attention.
“Sir, you did not pay!”
He disappeared around a corner. It took me a good few minutes to find him again. But the scene I was
going to see would be embedded in my memory forever.