Fiction: Group 4
The Little Fish
SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, Choi, Tsz Yan - 16, Fiction: Group 4
taring at the scene right in front of me, I could not imagine it was the city I once knew so well—no
more high-rises, no more hustle markets, no more rushing crowd. I was totally motionless, but I
clearly understood everything started from years ago. Those moments came up to my mind all at
once.
‘Can you help me?’ A voice appeared, which interrupted an 8-year-old little girl walking along
the third longest river in China—Pearl River. Yes, I was the little girl, searching the source of the voice. I
thought it could be from the crowd behind me, or it could be from the cell phone held by the young man
beside me. However, it was from neither of them.
‘I’m here…’ the voice got even weaker. I started to be anxious and worried that I understood there
was someone out there asking for my help, who was certainly in an emergency.
‘Flap-flap,’ the flapping of a fishtail caught my attention. A small fish which seemed to be dried to
death was lying on a stone.
‘It won’t be you, will it?’ I was so nervous to get a response.
‘It’s me. Please don’t ever pollute the river again, I beg you and …’ without finishing its words, it
had already lost its breath.
Terrifying by the speaking fish, I instantly ran back to my parents and hugged them tightly that I
was so afraid that I would be caught by the fish family. Yet, I did not tell the story to anyone, even my
dearest parents.
It came to the end? Surely no—I had never thought it could influence my entire life.
It was the year when I was 18. I was a grown-up—taller and more mature, but one thing that
never changed was that, the dream I had every day. Every night, I dreamt of the dying little fish asking for
my help. It triggered me to be more concerned at the issues of Pearl River Delta.
It could be said that Pearl River Delta was a success of China. In these years, cities including Hong
Kong, Guangdong and Macau had experienced a rapid economic growth thanks to the contribution of
globalization. China became more open and free to the world market. Being the ‘world factory’, it was hard
to avoid having more factories built in these cities. Undoubtedly, people there enjoy a much high quality of
life as they live in these affluent cities. There came more job opportunities, business opportunities and life
choices, therefore, people are more satisfied with everything they owned.
Being a student in Hong Kong, little did I enjoy the impacts brought by the economic growth.
What I could see and experience more was the downsides in these societies. They always reminded me of
that little fish. I did not know whether it was true, but as days passed by, my dream got different. The little
fish did not appear again, what replaced was a large family of marine animals. They seemed to be planning
something with anger, and gradually I realized that, there was one family member missing at every night.
The number of their members was getting fewer and fewer.
‘Juliet… Juliet!’ That was my co-worker, Jacob. We were volunteering in an environmental
group, fighting for the marine ecosystem in China.
‘I had that dream again. This time, the Father Shrimp was missing.’ I gave a deep sigh.
S
