Fiction: Group 4
switching languages from English to French and back, making it hard to gather what they were saying or
what was causing them to get into an argument.
Then I heard the words. Quiet and muffled, but unmistakable. Guangzhou. My heart started beating
irregularly. Palpitating. What could this possibly mean? Would I finally get the chance to go to the place of
my dreams.... What if they are sending me back? My mind raced with an endless list of possibilities making
my head feel heavy and numb. Then the voices stopped and that’s when the footsteps started growing
louder by the second echoing the closer they got to my door.
The door opened revealing the two familiar faces of my ‘parents’, their faces showing little emotion, “We
need to talk”.
I fumbled my fingers nervously as they sat on the bedside. Then Charlotte (my adoptive mother) said
“Pierre and I have been thinking... We think it’s time you explore your roots a bit more... get to know your
past life a bit..”.
“What do you mean?” is all I managed to squeeze out.
“We are taking you to Guangzhou”,Pierre replied.
That’s when it all became too much. My vision became spotty and the world around me seemed to give
way. Thump. Darkness everywhere, but then a light appeared, one that welcomed me into its warm rays.
The light woke me up.
“Kim? Kim?” ,were the first words I heard spoken with fear. “Are you all right?”
I mumbled as I tried to gain sense of my surroundings. Shock was the first thing that hit me. I was really
going to do this; I was going to go the place I had longed to go to ever since I had left. My adventure was
just about to start.
That’s how I ended up here. In the Pearl River region six months later. We had just arrived to the docks
where we rented a small fishing boat that would take us on our adventure along the river, an adventure that
was far simpler than I had ever planned or imagined. I hoped to myself that this might be the time I see the
treasure long sought after.
It was a peaceful journey as we sailed into the night sky, the moon began to peek out as if to say hello. Its
brilliant white beams reflected in the deep water and then... It was just as I had imagined: the fish danced
happily in the water, the water was as mysterious as could be and the fishermen made their way home. All
except one. From a distance you could make out it was a middle-aged women. She stood silently on her
boat, paddle in hand staring at something I couldn’t quite see. It wasn’t until we got closer that I realized she
was staring at the pearl.
Our boats collided gently for a minute, but strong enough to make her turn. She turned and looked towards
us, first to my adoptive parents then back onto me where she held her gaze for a while. Confused and
slightly shocked. She whispered under the sounds of the wind and I could just make out the words “Kim”.
