Shortlisted
The Widow Tower
Kylie Chong, Group
otus Hua, a widow, groaned as she lifted a stone for the Great Wall's Widow Tower. Her
husband had been attacked with eleven other men who died during the construction of the Great
Wall. Their hearts were broken. So, the twelve widows, including Lotus, were building the
Widow Tower as a memorial for their husbands. But there was one person who didn't feel sorry
for them, Chan Ma, an enemy and former friend of Lotus' husband, Shun Hua.
2:
Fiction, Canadian International School
“
L
Chan Ma snickered when he learned about the Widow Tower from his butler, Hu Chan. "Must be a joke, Hu.
Don't even bother to flirt with that graceful and pretty young woman who is like a lotus. Ha!" He laughed his
head off when he knew Lotus was building the Great Wall.
Back at the future Widow’s Tower, Lotus directed the other widows. “That log goes there and those bricks
go here. Don’t be a slow poke, Ping Min. I think Chan Ma will be coming now, so we’d better hurry up. He says
if we don’t finish this part of the wall today, he’ll forbid us from building the Widow Tower at all.”
“
So?” remarked Ping Min. “He’s not the director of the Great Wall.”
“
But Chan Ma’s half brother is,” piped in Ching Su. “And even though Chan Ma’s half brother doesn’t like
him, Chan Ma can still convince him since he’s the richest man in Beijing.”
Lotus looked proudly over their section of wall that belonged to the future 8,850 kilometre (5,500 miles)
Great Wall. She then saw a figure walking towards them. “It’s Chan Ma,” she whispered. “Start working!”
Chan Ma arrived with a dozen armed men. “Stop working right now!” he demanded.
“
We will never stop!” replied Lotus. “Keep building, widows!”
Chan Ma and his men grabbed a screaming Lotus and dragged her away, threatening the other widows if
they tried to save her. As he left with Lotus, he shouted, “When you figure out why I’m taking only her and
decide to be on my side, I’ll free her.” He knew they would never figure it out.
Chan Ma raced down the Great Wall and into his mansion’s dungeon. He dumped the unconscious Lotus
inside and slammed the door shut. “I should kill Lotus before any of those widows try to save her.” For some
reason, he was remembering how heartbroken she had been when Shun Hua had been murdered.
When Lotus woke up the next day, she was scared. At first, she couldn’t remember what had happened and
she thought she had been attacked by China’s enemies.
"
Good morning," greeted Chan Ma as he opened the dungeon door and threw in a piece of poisoned bread
with some poisoned water. "I hope you're starving because I spent a lot of time cooking delicious food for you."
"
No thank you, sir," Lotus said politely, knowing better than to make him angry. "I'd like to have some
porridge at home instead."
"
No. But you may request one thing before you die," Chan Ma offered.
Lotus thought carefully. "Then I'd like to watch you eat the bread and water."
Chan Ma shook his head and laughed, "Oh, no! I don't like bread and I …"
"…
don't drink water?" suggested Lotus who chuckled dryly.
Chan Ma realised that sounded silly. "Fine. I'll drink two drops of water and eat one big bite of bread." He
took the cup of poisoned water and the piece of bread. He turned around and slyly dumped out the water and
crumbled the bread before turning around again. "Yum!" he exclaimed, rubbing his empty stomach.
"
You didn't eat it! You must have dumped the poisoned food out the window." Lotus pointed simply at the
plate where not even a crumb of bread was left. "When anyone eats bread, they always leave bread.”
"
Be quiet, pest!" snarled Chan Ma. "I want to kill you, and that's the truth. Be quiet before your stupid …"
But he was too late.
The widows rushed in. "Free her now," they chorused. "We know why you stole only her!"
"
What? Why?" snapped Chan Ma.
"
Why, you're in love, of course! She's beautiful," Ching Su said, smiling. "Love means hate and hate means
love. You pretend to hate her now, as everyone can see, so that means you love her!"
"
Ladies, don't be silly," Lotus said, frowning. "He doesn't love me."
Chan Ma shouted, "GUARDS! Arrest them!"
The widows each took out a bow. "We killed all the guards," Ching Su explained. "They can't save you now.
We're going to kill you too!" She took out an arrow while Ping Min rushed for the cannon. They fired but their
aim was terrible. Soon, all the gun powder and arrows ran out.