Fiction: Group 3
The Seminar at the Pearl River Delta
HKUGA College, Tse, Hui Yan Jodie - 13, Fiction: Group 3
hat’s taking you so long, dad?” I asked.
“Just a second…Done!” Dad’s voice echoed around the room.
Dad walked out of the bathroom, he looked peculiar, something was definitely
wrong.
“Just trimmed my hair, do I look good?” Dad said proudly.
I almost laughed, but I held back and said, “you look amazing!” He actually looked like a potato.
He never bothered cutting his hair, but we were going to a seminar, so he did something exceptional.
I swung my duffel bag on my back. It felt like a ton of rubbish was piled over my back.
“What have you put inside, dad? It wasn’t so heavy when I packed it,” I groaned under the weight.
“Nothing special, just a few exercise books,” Dad winked.
I stumbled to the front door, unable to even respond to my dad, then I walked out.
“Have you brought everything with you, Bill?” Dad asked.
“Yes,” I croaked.
“Are you sure?” Dad asked in suspicion.
“Yes!” I yelled.
Dad smiled.
It’s about time to tell you something about me, or this whole story would be meaningless. As you can
see, my dad was
really
annoying, as if he was my mother. However, believe it or not, he was both my mum
and dad. My mum died in a car accident when I was three, so I didn’t really remember her. Dad told me
she had a warm smile, which was the only thing I remembered. I didn’t think I actually missed her, for my
dad was as annoying as a mother, but I would like her to be here with us, if I had a choice. Anyway, my
dad was an ecologist. This was probably the worst job I’ve ever heard. He went to national parks and
places which had been polluted to do research. He didn’t tell me this, but I figured out his most important
job was to clear rubbish. It was no different from the job of garbage cleaner, he just got a more professional
title. Today, we were going to attend this seminar about pollution, and a whole bunch of ecologists from all
over the world would be going to a polluted place, Pearl River Delta.
Back to where we started. We talked little during our walk to the bus stop. Dad and I just caught the
bus, and we were going to the airport. I slumped into a seat and fell asleep within seconds. The next time I
woke up, we were at the airport. After a scrumptious meal, we checked in our luggage and boarded the
plane. I slept again, and after waking up for a delicious meal on the airplane, I slept again! My dad woke
me up two hours later, pointing at the window. We arrived at our destination! How I hoped I was a koala,
eating and sleeping for the whole day. Sometimes, I wondered why we humans were the intelligent species.
Take koalas as an example, they know how to enjoy their time, they were smart. Anyway, we disembarked
from the plane and took our luggage, and then we got on a bus and headed off to the Pearl River Delta.
The Pearl River Delta was in China, formed by three major rivers, Xi Jiang, Bei Jiang, and Dong Jiang.
Pearl River Delta was actually two deltas, separated by the core branch of the Pearl River. I didn’t know
why they combined these two deltas into one. I only knew that its network covered nine prefectures, Hong
Kong, Guangzhou, Macau, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Zhuhai and Foshan. Also, the
water of Pearl River Delta flowed to the South China Sea. I usually failed my geography exams, but I knew
so much about this polluted river, probably because my brain was polluted too!
When we arrived, I didn’t see why this was a polluted place. There were a lot of buildings and
factories near the coast, making it like an organized place. There were even trees planted near the coast.
Seriously, I would be willing to live there, so what was the problem with it? I wanted to ask my dad what
this prank was all about. Suddenly, I saw something very shocking. I wanted to vomit, right into the
ocean, which would be nothing compared to the greasy patch of oil in the ocean. I didn’t know how to
calculate it using fractions, but I was sure the percentage of clean water was a lot less than the amount of
greasy oil.
“What is this?” I asked with disgust.
“This thing that looks like…” Dad was explaining when suddenly his watch’s alarm rang.
“W
