New Tales of the Great Wall
Joceline Leung
legend of the secret thread begins nearly three thousand years in the ancient Qin Dynasty. The great
Emperor of China – Qin Shi Huang spent his lifetime trying to become immortal … …
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green with a sc
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Group 1: Fiction, Holy Family Canossian School
“
Help me, John … … Set me free ……” He was peeking in through a hold. A wall made of
k, and tampered earth. There was a sparking green light in the dark. No! It blinked. It’s an eye in
arlet eyeball. John was terrified, running and running through snow. Suddenly his legs grew tired
and so heavy. He could hardly move them. Something was pulling him back …… What was it? Then he awoke
and opened his eyes. “Dreaming again!” his grandpa snapped.
A
John was a thin, frail looking 12 year old boy. He lived with his dad, Peter, and his grandpa. His mother had
passed away when he was two. He was a kid who believed everything he was told, everything he read and every
message in his own imagination.
He admired those with imaginative senses and felt sorry for those never dreamed. His grandpa definitely
was one of those he would feel sorry for. His grandpa was a strict person who only believed the things he saw.
He was stubborn and John never respected him.
“
I plan to join the Great Wall Marathon!” said Peter excitedly. Peter had just finished his third Hong Kong
marathon. He was enthusiastic about joining marathons and triathlons. Compared to his son, Peter was stronger.
“
Let’s go to the Great Wall together!” Peter said. John was thrilled.
A bad news came right before the Great Wall marathon. Grandpa had suffered a paralyzing stroke. Aunt
Jena came from Canada to take care of him.
All the athletes stood behind the starting banner. The Great Wall was covered in mist. It was a chilly day.
“
Keep it up, dad! See you at Badaling!” John cheered. The race started after a big siren sounded. John planned
to meet Peter at Badaling. He walked into the mist. Soon, he realized he was lost. As he emerged from the mist,
there was a group of Qin soldiers in front of him. “Are they making move?” John muttered to himself. The
soldiers looked at him in shock. They ran towards him fiercely. John was scared and ran to escape. “What’s
going on?” He was puzzled. There was a thin gap in the wall. It allowed John to hide from the soldiers.
After a while, it was silent. John tried to get out of the gap. Suddenly he saw a flash of light in a hole. He
peeked in and saw a green eye blinking. He heard someone whispering inside the gap. This reminded him of his
dream. He whispered back, “It that you? Do you need my help to set you free?
As expected, the thing answered anxiously, “Please help me!”
John pushed the wall and suddenly it collapsed. He quickly felt down into the dark deep. Something gripped
his arm. It was a green dragon. Extremely big it was, bigger than John could imagine. John never expected such
a huge dragon to be living under The Great Wall. Surprisingly he wasn’t afraid of the dragon. They both felt like
they had been friends for thousands of years.
The enormous dragon explained how he came to be imprisoned in The Great Wall. It was a sorcerer, who
took the elixir away from Emperor Qin and kept it in a secret chamber under The Great Wall, guided by nine
dragons. This green dragon was one of the nine dragons. Thousands of years later, the last dragon was very
eager to be set free.
John sat on the dragon as it flew up to freedom. The green dragon offered some elixir to John as a reward
for his help. The elixir could sure grandpa and save him from the effects of the stroke. John tried to grab the
elixir from the dragon’s paw. Suddenly, there was a burst of fog and John fell off the back of the dragon into the
mist.
“
Dreaming again, John?” Dad patted him. “Your chickenpox has nearly vanished. must feel better today?”
“
How’s grandpa?” John asked anxiously.
“
He is recovering well and should be discharged from hospital soon.”
John was pleased. He wanted to tell Peter all about his dream, however his father said grinning, “Now the
hour is late, so let’s save all of that tale for another day.”
* * *