The Last Rose of Shanghai

by Weina Dai Randel

Occupied Shanghai was the only open port for Jews, the only city that accepted him without an entry visa.

“‘There is a kind of love that strikes like a thunderbolt; it blinds you, yet opens your eyes to see the world anew.’

“The first thing you need to know, young lady, is the truth: in Shanghai, if you’re a woman and a business owner, you cannot climb through a tunnel of spiders without catching some cobwebs in your hair.”

love is stronger than death?”

It dawned on me that in the river of life, people came and went like boats. Full of steam and noise, they docked, and all would be blown by a wind that you couldn’t predict. The boat of Emily had sailed away.

Luo Ye Gui Gen, fallen leaves long for the roots,

Silence was a noise with teeth; it gnawed on my skin and left deep marks. Silence was a noise with arms and legs; it crawled across the rafters and spread its spawns of spells. Silence was a noise with a face, a face of dust and doom, a face of motes and moans.

Love was not a coin; it was a bullet.

“It’s like your heart is a leaky bottle that you’re trying to fill. All the love, joys, and happy moments go right through it, and it can never be filled up.”