Fiction: Group 4
lurking in the shadows.
As she grew up, her world became smaller till it disappeared, replaced by the
daunting reality.
The struggles, the pain, the truth.
When she was younger, she wished for adventures in Neverland and to fall down the rabbit hole with
Alice.
Now, she wished she could just disappear to another world so she could forget or even better,
escape
.
The square fold-up table was pushed against the wall next to the door.
There was just enough space to
open it so that it was wedged between the bunk bed and the wall.
Clothes were hung all over the place -
in front of the windows, on the bed's railings, on shelves - anywhere and everywhere.
Her school things
and towering stacks of books shared her bed.
The day's events swirled in her head, a mess of shame, anger
and humiliation.
“So the quality of life in Hong Kong is clearly undermined by sub-divided flats.
They’re small, cramped
rooms where many families live-“
“Miss!
Sophie lives in a sub-divided flat.
She can tell us what it’s like!”
The rising heat.
The steady, pounding noise in her head that grew louder and louder, whether from fear or
horror, she didn’t know.
When the lesson began, Sophie had known what the teacher was about to say but
she didn't know it'd take a turn for the worse.
It wasn't their right to tell everyone.
Sophie herself had
never said anything.
Rumours, gossip, lies.
Reputation, reputation!
"Sophie?
Maybe you could share your experiences with us?"
Your experiences.
There was something about the way the teacher had said that made it seem like Sophie was simply trying
it.
Like she was on a field trip for
fun
.
Like she was obligated to tell the class what her life was like
just
because she was different.
"There's nothing different.
Just because I don't live in a mansion doesn't mean there's any different about
my home."
Sophie knew.
Of course there was a difference.
She'd been to the homes of her classmates, their houses and
apartments that could fit twenty or even more sub-divided flats.
While they sported thousand square feet
apartments, her home was even smaller than their bedroom.
While her schoolmates attended tutoring every second day for every subject they took, she stayed at home,
facing her dog-eared textbooks with their covers falling off.
When they showed off their new bags and fascinating knick-knacks, she pretended not to see.
A hundred thousand of the city's labourers lived like her and her mother.
Families of four squashed into a
forty square flat with a tiny window, where temperatures could reach up to thirty-eight degrees. Where
you could hear the neighbours argue through the thin walls but you couldn't complain even if you had a test
the next day.
Where there was no space to move, no place to go.
"May I be excused?" Sophie had glared at her teacher, cutting her off.
She was the star student.
The one with the highest grades, good attitude and polite smile.
They didn't
know how it felt.
How hard she really worked so that hopefully they wouldn't notice her background, her
clothes.
So hopefully they would decide to forget and look past that.
All her effort – worthless.
