Fiction: Group 3
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Christian Alliance SC Chan Memorial College, Leung, Kwan Ting-13,Fiction: Group 3
nce upon a time, there was a King in China called Yu Huang Da Di. He had three daughters.
Their names are Jade, Agate and Pearl respectively. Yu Huang Da Di sent his three mortal
daughters to be the Guardians of three rivers-Chang Jiang, Huang He and Zhu Jiang.He first gave
them powers like controlling the tide, flood, and water pollution etc. He said the best guardian among three
will get the ultimate reward which is immortality. The Guardian of each river are decided by balloting. Jade,
the oldest, got the longest river; Agate, the second, got Huang He; Pearl, the youngest, got the shortest,
which is Zhu Jiang and was very depressed. She thought She can never do as good as her sisters. She
thought her job is useless and will never be better than her sisters since Zhu Jiang is the shortest river among
three. She went to Zhu Jiang in a sad mood. However, her sisters are very eager for the competition and the
prize. They headed straight to the river they guarded.
When Pearl arrived Zhu Jiang, she realize people live there doesn't know how to irrigate their crops. he
helped them to build irrigation systems. The locals therefore like her a lot. She realized the locals are very
nice and friendly. She started to like her job a lot.
One day, when Pearl was patrolling in the river bank at downstream, she realize there was a Chinese
White Dolphin trapped by a fishing net near the junction of South China Sea and Zhu Jiang. She wanted to
save the dolphin, but it's very risky for her since she cannot control seawater and salty water may burn her
skin and she may disappear in this world forever. She knew it's risky because she thought every life is worth
saving. She jumped into the water but the current was against her as if telling her go back to the shore. But
her mind was already made up and nothing can change it. After swimming against the strong tide, she finally
reaches the dolphin and began to free it. However, she started to feel something like fire burning beneath
her skin. She could hardly breathe. She was suffocating. She was almost done freeing the dolphin, but
meanwhile her skin was also burning and she saw some of her skin was shining bright red and she felt
extremely painful. She finally done freeing the dolphin, she tried to swim back to the shore, but it was too
painful. Her head were suddenly fill with images of her deceased mother, her caring father, her dearest
sisters...
At the final moment, she decided to let it all go. She thought she already done a lot of good deeds. She
helped the locals. It doesn't matter if they remember or worship her, as long as she thought they were all
worthy of her heart. She stopped struggling and let herself finally rest.
***
After knowing her daughter's death in the Zhu Jiang Delta, her father, Yu Huang Da Di was very sad
but also very proud of her daughter. He improved the water quality of the delta and renamed the Pearl
River Delta to make everyone remember the brave act of Pearl and to honour her spirit of self-sacrificing
forever.
O
