Because we lived on a island, all the roads occupied the narrow band mountain and sea, and there were two ways to get anywhere. Usually that meant a short way and a long way, except when one was unluckily enough to be as far away as possible from his or her destination. The way I took to the local primary school was the long way. That was even though the classes were always on Saturday mornings. I left home early, to catch an early bus to a busy station where I could catch an early train to a desolate station. We met at Meeting Point C of Chai Wan station, the last stop of the yellow line, which I never took except to get to HKUGA. I never learnt what the school’s name actually stood for, but that would never strike me as odd. In a place where in the local language each character is a word, a fondness for acronyms is universal. Even the country’s name did not escape that fondness: HK, SAR of PRC was infinitely more common than Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
Tex Tourais on 01 Sep 09Whoa! Bold choice. Most writers find it very difficult to write in the present, and a lot of readers find it disconcerting. The thing is: even if you use the past tense, your reader will experience the story as if it is happening right now, so past isn't really an issue. Bottom line: if this works for you, don't change it. There is nothing wrong with writing a story in the present. But, don't feel like it has to be present tense to make us feel it is in the present.
I might think about deleting this -- it might make it more matter-of-fact and more humorous
