“AHLUK          My mother and her six daughters. My poor mother, she kept trying for a boy, but all she got were girls. That’s me, the baby, the sixth girl. At first my grandmother wanted to give me away, but after consulting the Daoist priest they decided to keep me. Well, being the sixth – luk, in Cantonese, means good fortune – they thought my mother would have a son after me. So they call me AhLuk.

YILING           I didn’t know that’s how you got your name. And your mother had a boy?

AHLUK           No, my mother didn’t have any children after me.

YILING           So the Daoist priest was wrong?

AHLUK           I don’t know.  In those days you did what they told you. I wish there’s one here. I have so many questions about the future.”

From ‘Behind the Curtained Door’ – included in the showcase