Fiction: Group 3
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Pui Kiu College, Ko, Wendy - 14, Fiction: Group 3
e walked down the river bank in precarious strides as dawn washed over the delta, there was
something enthralling in the way a new world took the old in it’s embrace, preserving it in
memory, eventually to fade and come back in vivid remembrance as the curse of old age lays
upon us. He shook his head in frustration. Oh how sentimentality tormented him, how passion ruled over
his life. He had once made the mistake of revealing his inner turmoil to his acquaintances, chasing them
away with the monstrous insanity he fought to suppress when his façade tore away.
He stepped onto a meadow, a few meters from the river. The Pearl River was notoriously
polluted, the sins of society had drifted into the water, turning it a most disagreeable color. It was cruel how
Karma functioned, severing fate by turning one’s deeds against him, condemning those whose vivacity stem
from the listless water to suffering. But he found peace in the Pearl River Delta; he found solace in mixing
with the reprehensible. He found acceptance in the arms of the delta, and the consolation it offered enslaved
him, the escape from his past shackled him. He was no longer his own being, but a shadow of his soul,
marred with influences that bereaved him of his nature. The immoral power of mind has stripped him of the
ability to burn with his natural passions, and drove his self away until he became merely an echo of the
music he has once beheld.
He knew the musing only tethered him to his misery, but the authority of his soul did not reside
with him. He could only sit, stumbling over his feet. His eyes wandered over the landscape, to him, all was
obscurity. There was only the solitary path on which he sat on. He was in a queer harmony with himself as
a sense of desolation settled upon him. In all likelihood, he would lose himself over to lunacy soon, but the
small flicker of hope still sat in whatever rationality lingers with him. The Pearl River Delta was a place of
occasion, and the game of odds was played in a different manner. He sighed, as a creature – which in his
state of mind he couldn’t recognize – lapped at a trickle of dew. Darkness beckoned him, and he
contentedly surrendered his consciousness.
She lived in the primitive settlement; she was solecistic, partially because of the locale of her home,
and also by virtue of her lack of a
hukou
. She had a mother and nine elder sisters, all of whom have different
fathers. In the absence of a son, the
eldest sister
was the champion of their mother’s much coveted attention.
To a novice’s eyes,
Da Jie
was certainly beautiful:
she
was graced with a long, swanlike neck, a noble bust,
and a fine head of raven black hair.
Her
features bore an unfrowned affinity to that of her mother’s: lips like
the petals of a rose, dark eyes as brilliant as diamonds, skin as fair as lilies.
But the haughty manner in which
Da Jie
carried herself was quite
unpleasant. If the
eldest sister
’s domineering eyes ever fell on her by chance, they would withdraw
forthwith, as
the sister
found her rather too undistinguished to warrant even observation.
Da Jie
’s heart was
barren,
she
touted a dispirited pride and vindictive antipathy,
her
sardonic smile wiped away all traces of
superficial beauty in
her
countenance. Yet her mother adored
her
, and gave
her
the concession of education
and affection. The others were unadorned beings, and were too plain to merit consideration.
She lived, with only the Pearl River as a nurturer. The Delta was
her cradle, and the melodic flow of the water her lullaby. As childhood came, the riverbank became her
nursery, and all it’s creations became her playthings. The murk that adolescence brought upon was led away
by the river, and its alluvium enriched her mind. A morass of green moss germinate the waterfront, rich soil
layered the terrain, the very place was a harmonic consonance, a manifestation of music with a hue of
passion, youth, intellect. She felt loved when she was near the Pearl River, it washed away her tears and
sorrows and replaced them with a simple hope and joy. Her fear of being disadvantageously palpable by her
solecism was remedied by the absence of human communication. The Pearl River Delta that she knew
seemed be a safe haven, and when the corruption from the dense network of cities found its way to the
river, she was despondent. The magic from her harsh but joyful childhood seemed to float away as the river
and its lands decayed. Her heart strained to hear the elegant notes of the Delta
once more, but alas, the last
hovering pitch had faded. The landscape grew coarse, and she had become a young woman, the Pearl River
Delta no longer simulated alluring whims, the days when the river soothed her essence were bygone.
H
