Fiction: Group 4
River Spirit of the Pearl River Delta
Island School, Roy, Prerna - 14, Fiction: Group 4
ve always wondered why I’ve preferred going to here of all places, everyone else was at rooftop
parties whilst I sit here, staring at the stunning ripples of this river. A couple of long slabs of rocks
zigzagged in every direction, the beach I arrived from just in view. My breath hitches when I
observe the area around me, the water glistens and the waves crashing are music to my ears.
The Pearl River felt like home to me.
I sprawled myself across the rocks and let myself think of everything. I rode my bike here. The long bike
ride, the rock climbing, all just to see this gorgeous area in front of me. But there was something about this
place that just had a different feeling… the saltwater smell would bother most people, but to me it smells so
powerful, the way it startles your senses was something I craved.
I had not been lost in my thoughts for long when I feel a shift in my peaceful atmosphere. I am no longer
alone. Out in the distance I saw a patch of water that glistened more than the rest, so shiny it felt like I was
blind. I peered despite the blaring light, and soon enough I saw a figure approaching me.
My breathing quickened as she made her way towards me, I do not know who she is. I do not know what
she is, when I first saw her she didn’t have this sort of figure, she looked like an average woman with crazy
hair volume. She stopped only a few metres away from where I was sitting on the rocks, and tilted her head
and examined me, and then she must have confirmed I was the one she intended to talk to. She got close
enough for me to see her features. She was not human, she had no legs but instead a fish tail, and her hair
was vibrant and blue, with green eyes full of worry. I noticed blotches of dark stains on her pale skin.
I had no thought process as I asked her question after question. She did not answer any of them. Instead she
simply took hold of my hands and pulled me into the water, and told me I will see the answers for myself. I
awaited the sensation of drowning, but it never came, I was in a bubble and she guided me. She turned to
me and confirmed she’s not a human, but the river spirit of the Pearl River Delta.
I asked her why she bought me here, but instead she takes my hand and sets off at hyper speed deep into the
waters. I hadn’t felt any change in pressure. As we went on, both of us started wheezing and coughing. My
eyes burnt. The water was blackening, a blanket of oil spills and pollution, and I noticed my tanned skin has
black slashes across it.
We finally stopped, taking harsh deep breaths for a while. The waters all around were murky, and I could
see a layer of poisoned fish and other river spirits at the bottom. My heart sunk. She told me that there were
not many left of her kind; they had been killed off by the pollution that surrounded us, went into other
waters. She she was hardly surviving. My heart anchored itself to this riverbed, and I promised her that I
would find a way to fix this. She smiled sadly, clutched my hand and led me back to the surface.
My clothes weren’t even damp when I resurfaced. She waved a goodbye, and shimmered away back into
the waters. I took a second to collect my thoughts about the Pearl River Delta’s river spirit; she showed me
a light into the dark future of the river if we continued polluting it.
I think it was time I had a chat to the Hong Kong fishermen.
I yelled out to the fishermen snoozing on the ledges of their boats, it was early in the evening. A couple
came out on the docks and gave me looks of ignorance and irritation. After I had ranted about my findings,
I even mentioned seeing the river spirit, they each looked at one another and laughed about how I shouldn’t
be so naïve, that river spirits were an old myth that they use to tell children to put children to sleep so they
I’
