The Guardian Of China
Valerie Chung, Grou
lass, come here and line up!” Mrs. Lee, our teacher, called to us. We had just arrived at the
Great Wall of China for our autumn field trip. Sophia, that’s me, was very shy and only looked
down at my toes and nodded at what Mrs. Lee was saying.
p 2: Fiction, Singapore International School Primary
As we drew closer, we could see the long, ancient wall, looking like a dragon.
”
You can get into groups of threes and explore. When you hear my call, meet me at the
edge of the rocky cliff, ready to board the bus.” Mrs. Lee explained before letting us off. As usual, I quickly
teamed up with my two best friends: Mary and Carol as they were both brave and I was too afraid to do things
by myself. The class bully, Steven, laughed and said” Oh! You three are like the Powerpuff Girls, sticking
together all the time!” “Don’t let him get on my nerves. Just ignore him,” I thought as I gritted my teeth.
“
C
The hottest time of the day, afternoon was here. The heat always made me tired. I was lying under a tree
drowsily with Mary and Carol, but I could sense Steven spying on us. ”Come on, we ought to keep moving,” I
muttered as I stood up, wanting to avoid Steven. We chatted as we trekked along the rocky hillside road. Doing
so, we didn’t realize a crack in the ground where caused Mary, Carol and I to fall down into the endless hole.
We heard Steven laughing yet again, and Carol gasped, “Mary! Sophia! Are you all right? Look, I found a
switch, but I don’t know what’s it for.” As I walked over slowly, I saw a dimly lit candle, below it a button
saying: PRESS ME. No one dared to do so until Mary plucked up all her courage to close her eyes and gently
push the button. Immediately, the ground above us started shaking and the Great Wall of China turned itself into
a GIGANTIC GOLDEN DRAGON!!! “Look! Three buttons: Fire, Water and Wind. Whoever presses the
button, she gets to control that element,” Mary said as she pointed to them on its flank.
After a long debate on who would control each element, I ended up with Fire, Carol with Water and Mary
with Wind. From time to time, I saw Steven peering down into the hole until a sparkle of light from the Golden
Dragon made him think that: No fair! I want to be a Dragon Warrior as well! Therefore, he persuaded his two
friends, Toby and Claude to come with him. They jumped into the hole and pressed the elemental buttons just
before we got on the Dragon. “He’s stealing our ride!” Carol shrieked. Steven had a sly grin on his face, but it
turned upside down when the Dragon would not move an inch. “Look at this, it’s a manual. The Dragon will
only serve good people!” I whispered, not letting Steven, Toby and Claude hear us. Although they heard us,
none of them looked like fierce bullies anymore, instead they looked like pitiful kittens, mewling for milk.
Steven walked slowly back the way he came from, Toby and Claude hurrying behind him.
In the end, we managed to control the wind button and guide the Golden Dragon all around China, even
Hong Kong! Where places were dry, the Dragon would drizzle drops of water so that the poor farmers could
plant their crop. Where places were cold, the Golden Dragon would spit out fire so that they were warm and
comfortable. All the people who we helped were very grateful to us, and thanked us many times.
“
Claaaass, meet me at the edge of the rocky cliff nooooow!” I heard Mrs. Lee’s shrill call in the distance.
Mary, Carol and I quickly and secretly placed the Dragon, which at last, we named the Guardian of China, back
to where it was, in order to keep it secretive.
After the day of the amazing field trip, whenever people were in need, Mary, Carol and I would sneak out
from where we were, to go to fetch the Guardian of China, helping and protecting these people. Besides, I am
not shy now, thanks to this adventurous experience!
In ancient times, the Great Wall protected the people of China from invasion of foreigners. Nowadays, it is
doing the same as it did so many years ago, only in a different way.
***