Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Winners 2020 | Page 43

Hong Kong Young Writers Awards 2020
turquoise, cerulean, seafoam green.
Atop it’s head, two antennae were curling.
Far too intricate to be the price it was sold
Or rather, given.
Far too well made to belong in a cramped, unrefined street market,
dropped carelessly on the streets of old.
An almost enchanting quality about it-
Entrancingly beautiful in an innate, mystical way,
For it was almost like around it, the fundamental rules of the universe, space and time
Distorted.
Shifted.
Stopped.
Timelessness is a strange notion:
The feeling of staying awake until the sun rises. Long plane journeys. Confinement.
But it doesn’t really exist outside of your perception,
It takes no time for its passage to be put back in motion.
In an instant
It resumed,
Correcting itself.
The universe always strives to be interminably consistent.
Something peculiar happened in those brief moments of hesitation,
The world around him fell away, no, it moved forward.
The boy gazed at the charm in his palm in wonder,
And he wondered that in this case, did correlation truly mean causation?
He marvelled at how the city had grown
Into a jungle of skyscrapers,
With patches in the canopy revealing the unchanging blue sky
Into the future, where trees have sprouted from seeds that were sown.
Reality pulls him back from reflection,
Reminding him of the peculiar circumstances.
He calls to a woman passing by,
Asking her for the year, the location, and some simple directions.
Curiosity is evident on the woman’s expression.
She inquires of his name, his occupation, and a potential head injury
They converse for a while,
His unconventional introduction mostly forgotten.
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