Coin and Cloud
Wendy Finella Cabututan Mcleod, Group 3: Non-Fiction, HKMA David Li Kwok Po College
he Great Wall, a tangible symbol of China’s cultural heritage, was… empty of people. Or nearly so at least.
Two lonely figures stood upon the stony snake, soaking up what left of the rays the Sun would provide that
day (which weren’t a lot), both drenched for neither had thought of bringing an umbrella. They still had a lot
of time until they would both have to leave the site but they just stood there, making no move to depart.
They stood quietly for a while, glancing at each other, before the elder of the two men decided to
speak.
“I’d hoped for more than this,” he said, staring moodily into the sky. His appearance reflected the look of the
weather during his two day stay in China: depressingly overcast, to put it nicely. The fact that the business deal he was
supposed to have made the day before had gone awry was a factor leading to his somber demeanor that day, so we can
excuse him.
Being author, and therefore having exclusive rights, I say we call him Cloud, after his celestial twin. And who
are you to argue?
“I think it’s… well, magnificent. I only wish I could paint in rain. Then I’d fill a gallery with paintings of this
place,” said the younger man. He was a smart-looking chap, bright as a new penny. Upon making this comparison, I,
once again, take advantage of my literary licence and dub him Coin (Penny seems too feminine and I fear it would
wound our character’s inherent masculine pride).Overconfident and dangerously optimistic, he was full of the shine
most young men seem to take on, the shine that indicates their belief that they can take on the world.
“This kind of thinking makes youths highly susceptible to doing all sorts of things, like joining the army to
show people they’ve got what it takes (which they often don’t) and driving motorcycles over ramps into rings of fire.
Fortunately, getting their skulls cracked open a bit usually lets in a little wisdom,” thought Cloud.
“I think this is great,” said the Coin upon seeing his companion raise an eyebrow. “No swarm of tourists, no
noise, and nobody here but us. It’s nice to be able to appreciate the scenery without having to elbow your way through
the crowd for but a glimpse of it. These moments make a man pensive, if you know what I mean.”
“If by “make a man pensive”, you mean “allow a man to consider his failure and contemplate biting the dust”,
yes, I know exactly what you mean,” grumbled the grey one.
“Goodness gracious, what makes you say that?!” said the bright one, intrigued.
“I came here to be amazed. In all my travels, I’ve seen many things and I don’t believe I’ve seen or
experienced anything that truly amazed me. Nowadays, nothing seems to go well and I was hoping that coming to this
place I’ve never been to before would give me… I don’t know, something to believe in, I guess. I guess I made a
mistake, for at least the millionth time in this lifetime.”
Coin tried his best to mask his incredulity. This man was by far the most dismal he’d even seen! “You need to
cheer up,” said Coin. “When I was little, any time I was sad about something, my parents played a game with me to
brighten my day and it never failed.”
“What game?” asked the aged Cloud, deciding to just go along with whatever the kid wanted. It wasn’t like he
had anything better to do on the long stone wall.
“Well, the point of the game is to make up a story. We take turns adding to the story until it is complete,” said
Coin, speaking as though he’d repeated the same phrases many times before.
“Are there any rules?” enquired Cloud, still pretending to play along but becoming increasingly interested.
The young man thought for a moment. “No cliché endings or trying to end the story before anything is
resolved. The story has to make sense and you have to play seriously,” Coin decided.
“Alright, son, you start,” said the elder.
“Hmm… once upon a time, in a village beside the Great Wall, there lived a poor farmer.” He paused,
indicating that it was Cloud’s turn to contribute.
“Umm… this farmer had three daughters. Each was gifted in some way but one was particularly fair and
skilled,” said he.
Coin thought for a moment. “This daughter caught the eye of a young man whom she admired and he asked
for her hand the very next day. Of course, she gave it to him.”
T
