Fiction: Group 3
my dream again. Is my dream gone? Should I follow my dream? I couldn’t let go of
my dream, there was a part of me that still believed my dream could be fulfilled.
There was a time of frustration and a lot of thinking, I didn’t know what to do then.”
“What would you do if you were me?”
“My opinion?” I thought about it for a moment, “I really don’t know what to do. It’s a very tough
choice.” I chuckled.
“Well, at that time everyone told me to stay, I myself wanted to leave. I still
haven’t chosen yet, fate had chosen for me that time.” He sighed again.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Everybody ages, it is inevitable. My parents were too old to work and they did not have enough
money to live. They needed my help. Again, what choice could I have? None! I couldn’t abandon my
parents, and following my dream was far too risky, so my only choice was to work at Nosco.”
He sighed, and started whirling his book again and again, deep in his thoughts.
“After I received the letter, I worked long hours and worked hard for my parents, my whole body
became a working machine, doing the same job again and again. It was the most tiring year I had.”
I held my breath and waited, at the same time guilt started boiling inside me. I actually felt
delighted when he started talking about his story! All I cared about was how good the story is, why am I so
selfish? The man’s face became twisted, I could see emotions fighting each other, anger, frustration,
despair…he started angrily,
“Why god? What have I done wrong? Is it wrong for someone to follow his own
dream?” He sobbed and buried his head in his hands.
After a while, he calmed down a bit.
“I love my parents and I worked very hard for them, but why? Why did God do
this to me…?” He sniffled.
“My parents died last year. After all of my hard working… and fate gave me
nothing!”
“Somebody needs to know about this.” His voice was determined.
“My parents died, and I was lost, I continued working mindlessly. I didn’t know where to
go, my family died. What’s the point of life? Why did I even start to follow my dream? The Pearl River
Delta, the heart of China, more likely the crusher of dreams!” then he handed me a paper folder while he
slowly stood up, I did not question him and he suddenly started to recite.
“I want to take another look at the ocean, behold the vastness of tears from a lifetime.
I want to climb another mountain, try to call back the soul that I’ve lost.
I want to touch the sky, feel that blueness so light…”
Then he left the compartment, leaving a folder behind and me astounded…
The next day, I got up early like any usual days and went to work on the first train. The emptiness
had gone as if what had happened last night was a dream, people were everywhere, the train were inundated
with noises. I stared at the window during the whole trip with thoughts worth the weight of a thousand
mountains, and at the same time admiring the immenseness of Shenzhen. The Pearl River Delta was
growing rapidly, with skyscrapers sprouting like grass flourishing, but it was also a place where dreams were
crushed. The Pearl River Delta was the heart of China made out of countless of broken dreams.
The fourth emptiness was the least easiest to find, if you observed closely you would feel the
emptiness leaking out from the gaps between doors of a train going to the city, and you would feel it
seeping out from a folder in my right hand. The emptiness came from the folder, and the emptiness was
vast. In the folder, it wrote,
“But I can’t do any of this, so I’m leaving this world.
Everyone who heard of me,
Shouldn’t be surprised at my leaving.
Even less should you sigh or grieve.
I was fine when I came, and fine when I left.”
