Prompt: A New Life | Words: 1000 | Genre: Fiction
My partner and I had traveled to a village of 5 million people in Chenghai, China to work as English teachers. Towering residential high-rise blocks loomed over bustling street markets and rickety shacks. Traffic lights and road markings dotted the streets but they appeared to be for decorative purposes only. English was not spoken widely. The main mode of public transport was via rickshaw, and the locals traveled extensively on scooters. Most of the inhabitants of the village had never seen a foreign white-skinned, blonde-haired visitor and I was a huge novelty.
We lived on the 4th floor of an 18-story four-tower complex about 15 minutes’ walk from the school. Fifteen minutes is not long under pleasant walking conditions, however the temperatures were hot and steamy, ranging from 25 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius. To cross any of the roads was extremely dangerous, especially the six-lane highway by the school which had no traffic controls or lights, which made the short trip perilous.