Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Winners 2020 | Page 2

Winning Entries
HONG KONG YOUNG WRITER
OF THE YEAR
Fiction – Group 2
WINNER
The Journal of A Banyan Tree
Chinese International School, Zhou, Hanyi – 10
1856 Sha Tau Kok, Bao An County
When Tian Xiang went to war, I knew that there was no way he could bring me and
my brother. I knew that this day would come. People holding long pipes smoking something
called “opium” had been talking about a war coming.
As I stood there, watching Tian Xiang fade into the distance, I felt a lump in my
throat. I remembered Tian Xiang as a little boy planting me and my brother, side by side.
I remembered how thrilled Tian Xiang was when we first emerged from the dirt as green
shoots. Tian Xiang watched us every day as we grew into saplings, our branches stretching
out, our leaves turning fresh and green. He always sat next to us and listened to his father
telling stories about this land called Sha Tau Kok.
Tian Xiang had left. I felt like a part of me was gone, with Tian Xiang on the battlefield.
Day and night, I heard gunfire and explosions, sometimes so loud that I felt that I would
topple any minute. I cowered in fear, but I remembered that Tian Xiang was still out there.
I had to wait for him to come back.
***
1898 Sha Tau Kok Village, New Territories
Tian Xiang came back, and China had surrendered. I saw groups of people in uniforms
come in. They created a line through the village. And the worst part was, the line ran
through my brother and me. Whenever Tian Xiang came to the line, he would just stand
there and watch me sorrowfully, without touching me.
“You can’t cross the boundary stones,” his father always reminded him, as he pointed at
the ugly gray stone between my brother and me. “No Chinese can cross the line.” Tian Xiang
didn’t say a word, but I could see his teeth gritted and his fists clenched.
Before long, Tian Xiang’s hair turned grey, and his walking became more and more
arduous. I knew that soon, the time would come. One cold winter night, Tian Xiang walked
shakily towards us. He put his hand gently on my brother. Then, to my amazement, he slowly
turned to me, hobbled across the line, and rested his hand on my rough bark. I trembled with
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