Fan Fiction |
by Mimosa
We danced, barefoot. The music was echoing into the night, where open space and ocean diffused into a whole.
“In Heaven, love comes first,”
We laughed, and loosened ourselves to the beats… I stayed in the middle of that circle of my dearest friends, and felt my spirit high. Laughing merrily, I twirled. I saw him, I saw him not, I saw him…
I didn’t know if it was real. But there was something quite strange in his eyes just now. He looked stunned…
“Let us make it a place on Earth”
I threw my arms high above my head, and twirled faster…
… I twirled myself out of control, crashed onto someone, and lost my balance…
I shut my eyes. My cry sank inaudibly amid the loud music. But soon enough, I realized I didn’t fell onto the ground. I landed on somebody, firm and warm.
“I’m okay,” I stammered to assure everyone, who had rushed to our side “I’m okay!” I tried to get back on my feet as fast as I could.
“But maybe he’s not!” Nick addressed my sacred “cushion”, who was still sprawling on the floor where I’d knocked him down “Are you okay, buddy? You look all dazed!”
“Head concussion?” Annie diagnosed jokingly, but her remark still made me turn sharply “Dai Gor! Dai Gor!” Annie stooped to shake her brother
“Huh? Oh… I…” He took Annie’s hand and got up, his tall frame towering over me. A familiar twinkle in his eyes made me blush.
“Sorry!” I mumbled, couldn’t tear my own eyes away “I…”
I didn’t really have the chance to complete my sentence, for his phone rang. He fumbled his jeans pocket for it.
“Gallen’s speaking!”
We all saw his expression change
“What’s wrong, Gallen?”
“Jia Jia, remember the girl from Lantau?… They’ve just admitted her into Grantham! They want me to take a look!” He turned to Nick “Sorry bro, guess I’ll have to bail out now!”
“Hold it there, buddy! Are you going to swim back or what?” Nick asked teasingly, heading toward the control cabin “Give me a minute to turn her around. In about 20 minutes we should reach…”
“Oh no no…” Gallen held up his hand in protest “I don’t want to ruin the fun! I’ll take one of the Jet Skis to go back… You guys enjoy the rest of the night, okay? I’ll see you all tomorrow!”
With that, he hurried off to the lower deck. Two minutes later we saw the Jet Ski sped away at top spin, heading toward the shore.
“In Heaven, love comes first!”
I stifled a sigh. On Earth, duty and responsibility come first!
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[Cheung Chau East – Nick Cheung’s Summer House – Saturday (7th day)]
The young volunteers of HOPE woke up the next morning in high spirit, amid the soothing sound of the waves and the cheery squeaks of the sea gulfs. Their assignment this morning was a village right inside Cheung Chau, and Nick’d assured his team that they’d get there in less than half an hour. That gave the group a chance for a morning swim. For all except Flora, that was! She’d prefer some quiet minute on the porch, just for herself.
“Flora!” she felt somebody shook her gently “Flora!”
“Huh?” Flora stirred lazily. It took her a little while to realize she’d dozed off on the swing set on the spacious, breezy front porch.
“You and the rest must come back very late last night huh?” Gallen chuckled softly
“You’re early!” She exclaimed. The group didn’t expect their co-leader to be here 2 hours before their mission.
“I came straight from Grantham!” He explained, and sat himself down the top step of the stair.
“How’s Jia Jia?” She rubbed her still sleepy eyes
“We performed the first operation on her last night.” Gallen rested his head against the pole of her swing set. She could see the faint blue line beneath his eyes. “I don’t know if she would be stable for the next operation next week.”
“Is she that weak?” She asked wearily, Jia Jia somehow had become part of them. Gallen pressed his lips and nodded slightly.
“Well,” She said as she got up from the swing “She’s under your care now, Gallen! She will be fine!”
“Thanks!” he looked at her with a curious glance and a twitching upper corner of his lips. She knew what that meant too well by now.
“What’s that?” she muttered, touching her blushing cheeks “Something on my face?”
“Oh no, no!” He shook his head smilingly
“So what’s that?” She pressed with a touch of being irritated
“Well,” He got up and headed for the house “I’m just happy you finally decide to call me Gallen!”
“I did?” Her mouth was agape…
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He lingered at the door step long enough to take in that adorable image of her. For a moment, all the concerns and worries over his little patient seemed to be left behind him.
He rattled the content of the overhead cabinet for some tea bags. Absent-mindedly, he threw two or three of them into the cup, and waited for the water to boil. He glanced around…
*********
“You don’t even have the water boiled!” His younger sister Annie had said that, before conveniently gripping her hands around the duster…
He remembered himself backing away from that dining room, laughingly! He remembered seeing a slender figure in a fresh white summer dress emerged from the bathroom.
He remembered he had caught her arms and told her to run. Away with him!
He remembered her white cotton dress glowed under the kaleidoscope of colors in the sunset. Her complexion, too, was glowing sweetly the whole evening.
He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. There she was, twirling along the European mix beat in her little dress, arms flung high and eyes sparkled…
The same dove eyes…
…the same white dress,
…the same summer night a long time back! In the candle light aboard the Majestic, Eileen had twirled around in that angelic way, lost her balanced and landed on him…
Last night, Flora did just the same!
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[Hong Kong – Ada’s apartment – Saturday midnight (7th day)]
[Flora]
Jerry logged on just a fraction of a minute before I shut my laptop off.
“Hi Darling Harbour!” He greeted, “How are you?”
“Fine,” I smiled, thinking of the little incident on the yacht “I had a great time with my friend last night!”
“Oh” Jerry winked “Your special one?”
“Oh no” I hastened to the clarification “Friends I meant!”
“That’s great to hear that you’re happy!” Jerry said
“How about you?” I couldn’t wait to know what was there, deep inside him.
“I don’t know!” Jerry sighed “I’m very confused!”
“What happened?” My heart skipped a beat. What did he mean by that?
Jerry was killing me! He paused.
“Jerry?” My curiosity was torturing me. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here! Just don’t know how to explain this to you.”
“Just try me!”
“Well, Darling, I’ve met this girl…” Jerry began hesitatingly “You know, Flora came and worked for us during summer. ”
He was talking about me! About me! I guessed even Ada would hear the drumming of my silly heart inside my chest.
“What about her?” I hold my breath.
“Darling, I guess I…”
Jerry paused again. You what, you what Gallen? Arg! You kept me hanging! You were killing me!
I pounded my hand impatiently
And clumsily, I hit the sigh off button…
“No” I cried
“What’s going on?” Ada sprang up from her sleep, bewilderedly “Are you okay Flora?”
“Go back to sleep” I urged her and trying vainly to shield off the monitor, only to tickle her hunting nature
“What are you doing still?” She glanced at the clock on the bedside table “It’s pass midnight already!”
“Uh.. just checking email!”
“Why didn’t you check it at the hospital?” Her suspicion was obviously mounting
“I…er…” I fumbled for the power button behind my back. Where was it?
“Ouch!” Ada suddenly clutched her side “ouch ouch ouch!”
“What’s going on, Ada?” I bit the bait, and for that split second where I’d just shifted myself away, Ada leaned forward and seized the laptop.
“Jerry?” She giggled, blocking me away with one hand, while with the other, she strolled down the window “Who’s this Jerry? Calling you Darling, how dare he!”
“Ada!” I jumped on her back, struggling to shut the computer down “You are invading my privacy!”
“Oh my, my!” Ada’s smart mind had worked everything out “Jerry IS Gallen! Isn’t he? What was he about to say about “Flora”?” She went hysteric “What was it?”
I stared at her. There was nothing I could hide now.
“Hurry, ask him!” She pushed the laptop toward me with obvious anticipation “Ask him ask him ask him!” Ada stared at me as if I was a Martian. “You logged out? You LOGGED out?”
“Enough, Ada” I yelled, fluttering my arms around “It was accidental!”
“What are you waiting for?” Ada jumped off the bed and started skipping around the room “Log back in!”
“Calm down!” I laughed, didn’t quite know whether I was speaking to Ada or my silly self
I tossed and turned deep into the night. Ada, after exhausting herself teasing me and speculating on what “Jerry said”, had come back to her sweet dreams.
What did Jerry want to tell Darling? When I managed to log back in just now, Jerry had gone.
********
That strange light in his eyes I saw … when I was twirling on my toes spiritedly!
Did it mean anything, anything at all?
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