Fiction: Group 4
He walked over to the bar and slumped down on the stool. “Back again?” Smiled the bartender. The man
nodded. “The usual, I presume.” The man nodded again. He gulped the drink down as he scanned the
room. There were the dealers at one corner of the room, who looked very underdressed in their loose shirts
and pants, hoodies and caps covering their faces. The rich celebrities were at another corner, clustered in
groups and festooned with jewelry. Behind him, a shrill, nasally voice rang out. “Ooh! You’re back again?
You were just here yesterday.” He turned around and gave the girl a half hearted smile. “Maddie,” he
greeted. She was clearly wasted, her eyes murky and her body barely balancing itself in those ridiculous high
heels.
“Shame about Lara- I mean Sara,” she drawled. “She was so beautiful, inside and out. We were such close
friends. The best of friends, I would say. I presume she said the same. It must be so hard on you, dealing
with all the media and all that. They have no idea how difficult it is.” The young man narrowed his eyes.
She sighed. “You know, sometimes we’d even get high together. We had the best time. A pity she took too
much though. Can’t blame her. It’s is irresistible.”
She leaned forward next to his ear, her breath smelling like alcohol. “I have the best stuff. There’s this guy
that-”
Everything in the room started blurring and spinning, the noise becoming shatteringly loud but muffled at
the same time. Lights danced before his eyes and Maddie’s high pitched voice became louder, screeching in
his ear. He pushed his way out of the crowd, the shifting and shuffling of feet dizzying him even further. He
stopped outside the entrance, taking a moment to gather his breath before slowly walking towards the end
of the alley.
He stood, looking out at the Pearl River and the buildings on the opposite bank, where the bright lights
reflected and vibrated on the surface of the water. He spotted a perfect, tiny, pearl colored shell on the
ground and picked it up, fingering his own one in his pocket. “She would’ve liked this,” he said to himself.
“Ooh! Look at how pretty those lights look! It feels so.. vibrant!” She had exclaimed, leaning out of the
ferry and pointing at the buildings. The light had caught her face and hair, glowing all around her. He
laughed with her.
“We’ll come here as regularly as possible,” he had promised. They looked over the edge of the ferry and
gazed at their reflection, their smiles so wide and shining it was hard to believe they had hardships in their
picture-perfect life.
“Hey, what’s that?” He asked, pointing at little objects glistening by the shore as they stepped off the ferry.
“Those are pearl colored shells, found at the bottom of the River. That’s how The Pearl River got its
name,” an official had explained. “We could take some for you,” he offered. Sara nodded eagerly, and the
man came back with two polished shells that gave off a creamy hue color.
“That’s perfect,” Sara said as she cradled them in her hands and offered one of them to him. Since then they
had been collecting the precious shells, but had always kept the original ones with them.
The man smiled at the memory but it quickly faded. ‘How long has it been since we’ve been here?’ He
walked slowly along the bank, inhaling the Guangzhou air that he had become so accustomed to. He neared
the Haizhu bridge, its incandescent lighting drawing him closer and closer. He smiled inwardly. This was
always one of their favorite spots. They used to gaze out at it… how calm and still the water was, but the
swirling lights all around made it feel frenzied and alive. She used to always lean out over the railing and
spread her arms; to look like she was flying.
He walked along the bridge, glancing down below him, at the still, lifeless water. All stretched out in front
of him, a huge ribbon of blue and green murkiness that seemed to travel to the edge of earth. Fingering the
smooth, pearl colored shell in his pocket, he pictured her auburn hair, how it always blew on her face, and
she’d laugh and run her hands through it. It was one of the many things he wouldn’t be able to see now.
How the monitor slowed down to a long
beep
as it waited for the disease to consume her and seep deep
into her bones that lingered on her fragile frame… slowly evaporating… until she finally sank deep into the
vast white sheet, her hair still a fiery color, spiraling out over the sheets. He raised his head, smiling and
slowly put one foot on the railing, then the other. He leaned forward, and with a final breath, fell towards
the calm water, his limbs tumbling over one another, his body twisting and smacking the water, the pearl
shell in his pocket sinking down into the never ending Pearl River.
