Shortlisted
New Tales of the Great Wall
Joanne Z
n the legend, there was a dragon who lived in an old palace. He was one hundred metres long and his body
was shiny with golden scales. People called him “Golden Dragon”. Nobody ever saw him. Some people
claimed that he had great power which could save China but some people disagreed saying that he will give
bad luck to China.
i Qing Lo, Group 1: Fiction, Holy Family Canossian School
I
Near the old palace, there was a tiny village where a pair of twins called Ming and Mei lived. Ming was
smart and creative. He had a lot of ideas and also could solve any problems easily. He had special powers that
could read people’s minds. He was good at Kung Fu. His twin sister, Mei was kind and helpful. She also had
special powers like Ming. She could run as fast as lightning and could walk through any object. She also was
good at Kung Fu too. They both admired the Golden Dragon and really wanted to meet him one day. In the
village, they were the only ones who wanted to see him because most of the villagers felt that he was very
dangerous and fierce. People might not come back safely after meeting him. The other villagers always said,
“
Forget it!” Don’t go to see him. He will destroy our village and give bad luck to China.” Even though the
villagers said such bad comments about the Golden Dragon, the twins didn’t give up looking for him. So this is
the start of the tale of the Great Wall.
When the twins were eighteen years old, they ran out of the village looking for the Golden Dragon. They
walked for a couple of hours towards the palace. There was a restaurant. They wanted to take a rest so they went.
Once they sat down, they both realised that it was very strange as there was only one woman for serving and no
other customers. They ordered some buns and tea. The buns were so tasty, they ate them all. Soon they felt
sleepy and fell asleep onto the table.
When they woke up they found themselves locked in a metal cage. The woman said, “How tasty you are!
You are going to be my lunch!” Then suddenly the woman turned into a scorpion. Ming was frightened but he
calmed down. Mei used her special powers to go through the metal cage and start fighting the scorpion.
However, Ming was still trapped. Finally Mei killed the scorpion and got Ming out of the cage. They continued
their journey.
The sky turned dark and luckily they found an old inn to stay in overnight. While they were sleeping, they
floated on the air to the Golden Dragon’s palace. When they woke up, they saw the Golden Dragon smiling at
them. They were surprised but suspicious.
The dragon said, “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. I want to tell you something about me. Once I was only
a little seahorse. Accidentally, I ate a piece of purple leaf and I flew out of the water. Then I become a dragon.
As I am huge, everyone misunderstands, thinking I am dangerous and fierce. They all stay away from me. I am
so lonely and I really want to make friends with others. What could I do?” The twins were very surprised that
the dragon asked them for help.
They lived in the Golden Dragon’s palace for a few days and found that the Golden Dragon was very kind
and peaceful which is totally different to what the people said. They taught him Kung Fu and told him about
people’s lives in the village. He was pleased and he promised he would do his best to help the people in need.
Time flew. The twins had stayed with the Golden Dragon for a month and today was the Golden Dragon’s
99
th birthday. The Golden Dragon was depressed and wanted to share a secret with them.
“
This is my last birthday as I will die when I turn one hundred years old. Then, I wouldn’t be able to fly as
my body will turn into metal automatically. What a pity!” said the dragon, sobbing.
Ming thought about trying to find a way to bring youth back to the dragon by finding a solution in books
and history. Luckily, Ming found a book called “Facts about Dragons” and it mentioned that there was a “Youth