The Small Role in a Mega Job
Yun Jie Jade Zheng, Group 2: Fiction, Shenzhen Regents Primary School
am glutinous rice.
I thought my life would end up in someone’s stomach.
But I did not know I would carry such a great job, thanks to the great engineer who found out this
function of me.
Although I am glutinous rice.
Since the emperor of China commanded all the men to build the Great Wall, men were caught, women cried.
This show was replaying everyday and everywhere. Our village became lifeless. So did I.
Sun rose and sun set again and again, old women’s hair was brushed a silver sheen. Our village got a
shocking notice: The Great Wall was completed! All the men who were caught for the Great Wall’s building
came home. My owner and his wife hugged together. A happy smile appeared on their faces. Their happiness
influenced me. “What a wonderful life!” I thought.
However, good fortune will not always accompany us. That night, a silence covered the whole village. All
the villagers were sleeping comfortably. I was standing on a stage, people were cheering for me. They greeted
me with thunderous applause. At the moment a trophy was given to me, a thunder pulled me back from the
dream to reality. Suddenly, I woke up. I saw the lightening crossing through the dark sky, and it rained cats and
dogs. I heard a strange sound, it was like mud-rock flowing down, like an uninterrupted earthquake, like a kind
of building collapsing…
The next day, our village got a shocking notice again: The Great Wall was collapsed by the thunderstorm
last night! After this notice, all the men were forced to build the Great Wall again; the women cried the whole
day long again, our village became lifeless again……
On the other side, in the palace:
“
What have you done?” said the emperor, it seems he was horribly angry.
“
I’m very sorry, your majesty. I promise I’ll do it again and better.” answered the old engineer, he was
afraid.
“
No way! You are no use to me! Go!” shouted the emperor.
Because of the collapse of the Great Wall, the emperor was horribly angry at the old engineer, so he found
another one to replace him. He was a young engineer.
The young engineer found out the reason why the Great Wall fell down when he went to the construction
area. It was because the Great Wall is not strong enough causing the collapse. “Why is the Great Wall not strong
enough? How to make it stronger?” the young engineer still couldn’t understand, even after repeated thinking.
He went home to have dinner, hoping he could find out something about the problem.
“
What are you thinking about?” his wife asked when she set down the dishes onto the table.
“
Well, the emperor wanted me to find out the problems of the Great Wall, but I don’t know how to solve it.”
said the young engineer, tasting a bit of their dinner. Hey! What’s this? It’s so sticky!’ he asked vaguely
“
It’s rice cake made by glutinous rice, yummy right?” his wife asked him thoughtfully. The young engineer
jumped out from his chair and cried out “It’s right! It’s right! I’ve got an idea! It can make the Great Wall
stronger!”
The young engineer ran to meet the emperor immediately and offered the great idea to use glutinous rice to
stick the stones of Great Wall. “I can make the Great Wall stronger!”
Now, the emperor and the young engineer requested every family to give their own glutinous rice out for
the Great Wall’s building. Almost instantly, my partner and I were thrown into a huge and dark gunny bag. We
were being tossed around. With the severe sloshing, I dizzily closed my eyes…
When I opened my eyes, we’d already reached our destination--The Great Wall. I couldn’t believe what I
saw when I looked straight to the young engineer beside us. All of us, the glutinous rice, were cooked and
mashed up to mud. Then, we were put to stick stones onto the Great Wall tightly. We, glutinous rice, become a
part of the Great Wall forever.
Nowadays, although people use cement for the buildings instead, it could never take the place of us on the
Great Wall. The dream of standing on a stage to get my trophy came true! I’m not just small glutinous rice; I
was used for a Mega Job as part of the Great Wall!
* * *
I
Shortlisted