Grandma knitting, Shanghai. (Photo: M. Griffiths)
VOTE FOR ME!! One of my stories - 'Tell Him He's Dreaming' - just got 5th place in the New Zealand Writers College short story competition.
As a result the story is in the running for the "People's choice award" and some money!!
You can read the top 5 stories and vote here:
http://www.nzwriterscollege.co.nz/2014+NZ+Writers+College+Short+Story+Competition.html
The judges comments are interesting. Getting all five judges to agree on any of the stories seems nearly impossible!
Enjoy the stories and please vote for me!!!!
Matthew
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 1, Beijing here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 2, The Great Wall here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 3, The Forbidden City here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 4-5, Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 6, Lost and Found, here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 7-8, Xi'an to Guilin, here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 9-10, Lijiang River and Yangshuo, here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 11-12, Longsheng to Shanghai, here.
My Crazy China Trip
(Day 13)
Shanghai Sights
This morning I wandered around near the hotel
looking for markets and taking photos. I found an old narrow street. It looked
interesting so I went down it. Some of the buildings on one side were
demolished.
An old lady was sitting outside her house with
a friend, knitting. I asked her what was happening. She didn’t speak English
but a neighbour came along and translated. She said she was eighty years old
and had lived there all her life and now they were demolishing the houses to
build high rise apartments. She had to move to a new apartment somewhere far
away. She said her son from America and her granddaughter were coming to help
her move the next day.
Her house was small, only two or three rooms
but she seemed to very sad to leave. I took her photo and one of her house.
After that I went into the centre of the city
to the museum. It was free but getting in was a bit embarrassing. They had an
x-ray machine for security. I had to take off my bag and out everything in my
pockets in little plastic tray for them to scan. One of the security guards
picked up my phone and showed it to the other. They both laughed. I smiled too
until I realised they were laughing at me. I felt like a real country cousin.
Everyone here has fancy phones and there are advertising signs everywhere. Next
time I’ll hide it my bag.
After I got over my red face the museum was
great. Since it was free I looked at everything twice to get double the value.
When was walking along a main street again looking
in the shop windows a woman came up to me asked me where I was from. Then she
asked if she could practice her English. I told her I didn’t want any tea. I wasn’t going to fall for that one again. I didn’t want to be shanghaied
like I was in Beijing.
I went to a small restaurant for dinner. I
couldn’t read the menu so I pointed at pictures of some things that looked
good. One was a little burger with meat and sauce in it. It was yummy. The man
in the restaurant asked me if I liked donkey. Not really I said I like horses
better. He said he didn’t have a horse. I didn’t see his donkey either. There was
a picture of his dog outside the restaurant though. He must have lots of pets.
As I was walking around after dinner I met
three guys hanging around in the street. One of them had tattoos like my
sister’s friend. Maybe they’re related. They asked me where I was from and said
to come and have a drink with them. They would buy. That sounded ok. They
touched my arm and my stomach and asked if I had two kidneys. I said yes. They
that was good they said. Good for drinking I suppose. We went to restaurant and
they ordered lots of drinks. We had great time. After a while another guy
arrived. He talked quietly to one of the others and looked at me. He didn’t
look as friendly as the others. I started wondering if they were going to make
me pay for the drinks like the girl woman in Beijing. I still hadn’t
bought a present for my sister and I didn’t have much money left.
When they weren’t looking I got up and said
I’m giong to the toilet. I took my bag and when they were out of sight I ran
out of the front door. A few seconds later I heard a shout. I ran down the
street and into another restaurant looking for somewhere to hide. I saw a
toilet door that wasn’t shut so I went inside and locked the door. Luckily the
old guy squatting in there didn’t mind. I stood still, panting like mad and
tried to keep quiet.
The men came and banged on the door. The old
man said one of the bad words my sister’s friend taught me. The men said
something back and then they went away. After a while I thanked the old man and
snuck out the back. I walked back to my hotel. I needed a cuppa after that. No
wonder they drink so much tea here.
I went out for dinner later. I went along a
street with lots of little massage parlours. The signs were blinking and some
of them had women in lingerie sitting near the door. I could kind-of see their steamed
buns through the front of their lingerie. I thought they would get a cold
dressed like that.
One of them stood up and came to the door and
asked me if I wanted a massage. I felt my chest. It wasn’t sore. “My chest isn’t
sore thanks.” I said and kept going.
My feet were sore though from all the walking
so I went to place where I could see people’s feet getting massaged. I went in,
soaked my feet and had a foot massage. It was great. They even gave me cup of
tea for free.
I got back to the hotel just after midnight.
I checked the phone. Yay! I could remove the phone jack so no one could ring me
and wake me up. Finally I could get a good night’s sleep.
I was fast asleep dreaming of steamed buns
jumping on a trampoline when there was a loud knock at the door. I yelled at
them to go away. They kept knocking. I dragged myself out of bed and went to
the door.
There was woman standing there who said. “You
want massage? Make you feel very good.”
“No Thanks” I said, “I want to sleep.”
“Massage help you sleep.” she said and touched
my chest.
I
shook my head. “My chest is fine thanks. Yours looks fine too by the way. My
feet are good too. I already had a foot massage. I’m going to bed now, Bye.”
I closed the door and went to bed but she
kept knocking. Eventually I gave her some money to make her go away and went
back to sleep.
[If
you’re confused about the references to steamed buns read My Crazy China Trip
Day 1]
********
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 1, Beijing here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 2, The Great Wall here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 3, The Forbidden City here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 4-5, Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 6, Lost and Found, here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 7-8, Xi'an to Guilin, here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 11-12, The Longsheng Terraces to Shanghai, here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 14-15, Shanghai and home, here.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
********
MORE STORIES....
Love at First Flight - A foreign teacher arrives in China and falls in love with a local, but the path of true love is anything but smooth. (5 parts)
Trial by Fire - When a woman in Tibet self-immolates two witnesses face a dangerous dilemma.
(4 parts)
Arrested Development - A development consultant in China finds life getting out of control. [Rated R]
SHORTLISTED for the Lord Grimdark Award. See the list here.
Beijing Private Eyes - Drama, Romance, Karaoke, Kidnap! A foreign teacher in Beijing meets an attractive stranger and offers to help, then things get complicated. (A long story in 8 parts)
Tell him he's dreaming - An engineer has an environmental epiphany but things don't work out as planned.
SHORTLISTED for the New Zealand Writers College Short Story competition. See the list here.
Entries in the post-industrial / peak oil short story competition:
My story 'Promised Land' has been selected for the forthcoming anthology "After Oil 2: The Years of Crisis". You can read the other entries here.
A previous set of stories was published in 2012 in a book entitled After Oil: SF Visions of a Post-Petroleum World, available from Amazon (Amazon) or in Australia from Fishpond (Fishpond).
Stories set in China:
Winds of Change – In 2022 a migrant worker struggles to realise his dreams and fulfil his family obligations.
Outside In – It's 2050, the country and economy have changed. A recycler studies for an exam to improve his prospects, and an indentured servant plans her escape.
Seeds of Time – (Sequel to Outside In). In 2055 rural China prospers again after a period of dramatic changes, then things are complicated by a strange visitor and a hidden object.
Stories set in Australia: A North Queensland Trilogy
Robots on Mars – 2025. A space-mad city boy adjusts to life in the country and tries to solve a mystery. (Note: no actual robots or Martians involved)
Promised Land – (Sequel to Robots on Mars). It’s 2050 and development threatens the rural district. Is it what they really need and if not, how can they stop it?
Heart of Glass - (Sequel to Promised Land). The year is 2099, high school graduates prepare to step into adulthood and the community prepares to celebrate the turn of a new century.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
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