We Built the Great Wall
Helen Ye
t was a Sunday morning when Percy woke up with a start. He tried to look at his watch and nearly
screamed out—his watch was gone and he was wearing a fancy Chinese robe. He was in a red room with
beautiful curtains hanging on the side.
He r
ung, Group 2: Fiction, Pui Kiu College
“
No!!!!!!! Where am I!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Percy as he jumped of the bed.
an through a long corridor with Chinese paintings hanging on the side. The corridor was so long like
there wasn’t an end.
I
“
Where are you Mr. Qin? Your father is waiting for you,” a woman shouted as she walked to Percy.
“
Oh no, No! Don’t come to me! What do you want and what do you need! I am Percy Underwood, not Mr.
Qin. And!!! Why am I wearing these Chinese robes, and where is my watch!!!!!!!!!! Should I be in San…”Percy
shouted as he cried.
“
Mr. Qin, please calm down! You’re in China, your home! And I am your servant,” said the woman.
Percy knew that he must be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he didn’t want to argue with the
woman anymore so he followed the woman into a big hall. The hall was full of men wearing Chinese robes and
a man wearing a fancy gold robe--like the one he was wearing, was sitting in front of everyone.
“
My son! Come and sit with me,” the man laughed as he spoke. Percy walked closer and nearly fainted, the
man he saw was Qin Shi Huang. He had learnt that in his Chinese History lesson, although he never usually paid
attention.
“
Ye…yes your majesty…” answered Percy nervously. He really hated Qin Shi Huang since he started to
study Chinese History. He had dreamt that if one day, he could go back to Qin Dynasty to kill him.
He walked to Qin Shi Huang anxiously and sat beside him. Qin Shi Huang took out a huge roll of scripture
and announced, “I have decided to build a long wall surrounding China. The wall will be a place to entertain us.
After it is built, we will have prostitutes dancing through the wall while we can sit and watch.” Percy couldn’t
stop shaking while he listened to him. “Shouldn’t the Great Wall of China be defending China?” he thought as
he shook even more.
Finally, the scary ceremony was over. Percy walked back to his room, feeling miserable. He looked out the
window and saw the workers already building the wall. He wondered how fast they worked.
* * *
The next morning, Percy woke up hoping that he would see himself sleeping in his room in his house in San
Francisco. But still, he woke up seeing his servant standing beside him, smiling.
“
Miss, would you please leave me alone,” Percy pleaded.
“
Yes, Mr. Qin. As long as you wish to,” answered the woman as she walked away.
Percy sighed and looked outside, the wall was nearly finished. He was sure that if he was able to go back, he
would absolutely argue with his teacher, “But the truth is, the Great Wall of China was finished within one
day!” But suddenly a red thing dancing through the walls caught his eye. He slowly sneaked out of his room and
crawled to the Great Wall, trying to have a look at that red thing.
He saw a gorgeous girl wearing a beautiful red dress dancing through the walls, her eyes were full of tears,
her long and beautiful black hair was covered with dust. But still, she looked like a blooming red rose. Percy
walked to her slowly, feeling dizzy. But the girl stopped dancing, then sat on the floor and cried. Finally, Percy
noticed that several men were whipping her and a girl was laughing beside them. Percy was so frustrated that he
ran to the men and the girl while he shouted,
“
How dare you stupid people treat this poor girl like this?”
But the laughing girl grinned and said, “C’mon, she is a prostitute, and you are Mr. Qin, the son of the
emperor.”
Percy wanted to protest that he was not the son of the emperor but the sentence just stuck in his throat. His
face turned bright red.
“
Since you’ve got nothing to say, why don’t I ask my brother, Mr. Qin, NOT YOU, to kill this useless girl,”
continued the girl as she walked away.
Percy was stunned but he turned to the girl.
“
Quick! Why don’t you run away?” asked Percy.
The girl shook her head sadly and showed Percy her foot, it was covered with red blood.