Shortlisted
The Great Wall
Lok Ping Fong
nce, a jewel had been buried by the king of China, Puyi in the Great Wall of China. Soon two teams
were trying to find the precious jewel, but soon, this hunt for the jewel killed great amounts of people
because the two teams showed no mercy to anyone or anything that stood in their way. The two teams
were the Blizzard team and the Titanium team. But the Blizzard team was full of greed and fury,
taking everything they wanted. On the other hand, the Titanium team played fair, never asking anything more
they could not handle……
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Group 2: Fiction, Independent Schools Foundation Academy
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The Titanium Team was on thin ice, the Great Wall was worn down. Paths had been cracked because of the
wars centuries ago. Tom, the team leader found it hard to reach the other side of the mountain because parts of
the Great Wall were nothing but piles of rubble. Every few minutes, Sean would protest “I’m too tired, let’s
have rest now!” So this would cause Bruce and some of the more determined ones to mutter “Just keep going
Sean!” Ryan and Neal are the younger ones in the team, so they needed extra support from Tom.
Rhys was so tired, he said “BLIZZARD TEAM! WE’VE GOT TO STOP, I’M WAY TOO TIRED!”
Edison, Charlie, TG and Jones would say “Dude, you joined the group, so there’s no going back!” Then they
would just stare at Rhys with a strange look on their face. So Rhys whimpered every time like a really miserable
puppy that couldn’t get its bone, and this made every one chuckle. TG was the team leader (if you didn’t know),
so his expectations were very high.
Neal walked forward, he felt different, and he felt braver, more courageous. This made him want to beat
anyone up, anyone who would dare challenge him. Suddenly, something caused him to trip, making his flicker
of bravery vanish. The whole team rushed towards him, Sean and Ryan examined the wound, and they both
sighed with relief. “The wound is not that bad, but remember to be very cautious around here as the Blizzard
Team could pop out anywhere, anytime.” Neal nodded in understanding, feeling glad to be treated so nicely.
Tom jerked his head to the object that tripped Neal. He gasped and cried “It’s part of a huge SAPPHIRE!!!!!”
Bruce cupped both hands on the jewel and tried to pull it out. But it was no use; it was tightly buried in the field
of grass beside the Great Wall.
TG and Rhys heard the distant shout of the Titanium Team yelling “It’s part of a huge SAPPHIRE!!!!!”
Rhys told the team “The titanium team has found the sapphire! We must steal it from them! FOLLOW
ME!!!!!!!” The Blizzard team followed Rhys along the rocky ground of the Great Wall, but the sun was setting
already, so they had no choice but to camp there. Jones wondered “Will I make it out alive?” these words
echoed in his mind as if someone was saying it over and over again. With a long sigh, he crawled into his
sleeping bag and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
Daylight shined through Charlie’s sleeping bag as he yawned. A delicious smell of soup filled his nostrils,
making him drool. The whole team was up, packing their belongings. A single McDonald’s burger was laid in
front of him; he opened the package and finished it in four bites. Rhys said “Rise and shine everybody! Let’s get
moving!” The team followed the cracked path until noon, when suddenly TG rushed towards them and
whispered, “The Titanium team is right there!” he pointed to five figures only a few hundred metres away and
they seemed to be trying to pull something out of the ground. Without warning Edison rushed off.
The Titanium team spotted the Blizzard team 600 meters away, Tom was frantic to pull it out and so were
Bruce and Neal. Everyone but Ryan stared at the jewel, looking at it in a strange way. Suddenly, he said “I got
it!!” “Got what?” said Neal, panting. “How to pull that jewel out, you dummy!” cried Ryan. Everyone let go and
let Ryan have a go, Ryan put his hands on the jewel and twisted it. CRACK. The jewel was thrown into the air,
Tom jumped and caught it with his hand and gazed at it admiringly. Everyone circled around him and stared, all
of them were touching and feeling the palm sized jewel.
Edison was so close to them when they got the jewel out of the ground; they were just a metre away from
him. Edison thought of nothing else, he leaped forward and grabbed the jewel out of Tom’s hand. Bruce
stumbled back shocked; luckily Neal was there and caught him. Edison grinned, he had the jewel! He spotted
the rest of his team waving too, so he raced forward to get past the people gasping in front of him. Out of
nowhere, a powerful arm grabbed him on the waist, causing him to fall down. As fast as a bolt of electricity,
Sean pushed the jewel out of the way and Edison landed empty-handed. Snarling with anger, he pushed past
Tom and yelled, “Team, help me here!” TG and Jones leapt forward, forcing Neal and Bruce to fall. While
Charlie ran up to Edison and screamed “Throw it over here!” Unfortunately Tom caught it and ran off. But he