Shortlisted
The Sleeping Dragon
Jess Yun
am a guard, watching and waiting for bandits and invaders. Being a guard is a job that you have to do 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
I im
Hearing
g, Group 2: Fiction, St. Margaret's Co-educational English Secondary & Primary School
I
It was getting dark, and my eyelids were drooping. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, it startled me and
mediately perked up. I called out in my loudest voice I could muster at that time to call the others out.
my call, the others got up automatically as this was what they were trained to do.
They took their weapons and marched out, fearing nothing and feeling as strong as any dragon. However,
there didn't seem to be any sign of creeping in the darkness. But, what we hadn't realised is that the sleeping
dragon had woken up! The Great Wall of China had started moving and we were in big trouble. The Wall
started moving at a fast pace, slithering across the land like a huge snake. All of us were panicking, we were all
scared and worried. What would happen to us? Would our lives end this way? Knowing the threats and dangers
ahead, I made my way to the side of the Wall, praying to the gods that I would live my life to the fullest.
With all my might, I clung onto the old stone bricks that were my only hope to not fall out. Some guards
that weren't that lucky had fallen into the depths of darkness. The elders used to tell us stories of the Wall
coming to life, and the people who died building the Great Wall will come back to life to destroy everything in
their path. But it seemed like they had never told us how to make the sleeping dragon go back to its deep
slumber. Me and some of my fellow guards thought hard and long, trying to bring back the memories of the
story of the sleeping dragon. Quick as a flash, a body came from what seemed like nowhere and grabbed one of
my friends.
"
Help!" my friend cried, "May the gods have mercy on me!"
We all watched helplessly as one of our dear friends was dragged down. Yet, our friend wasn't the only one
who had been captured by the dead. Guards everywhere were trying to fight off the bodies that came by the
hundreds. There was no time to lose, I had to think of a solution! I scanned my memories of my past, the stories
my Grandpa Chan had told. All of a sudden, it came to me. I remembered my grandfather said, "Zhong Hu is the
instrument you must play, with river water is the way."
At first, I was confused. Then it struck me like a bolt from the sky. I had learnt how to play the Zhong Hu, a
traditional Chinese instrument, after my grandpa Chan had given his old one to me. He only taught me one song,
Jiang He Shui.
"
Remember this song and your Zhong Hu when the time comes," he said, gasping for breath, laying on his
deathbed. However, there was no time to rejoice, I was seeing the dead coming back to life! Some bodies had
already got a grip on the stones and had started to climb up. I grabbed my old and precious Zhong Hu from my
cloth sack, just before the tower I had put my possessions in had collapsed.
With great care, I took out the smooth instrument and its bow. Then I automatically started playing Jiang He
Shui (River Water). I played it with great calmness. Then, suddenly, the start of the Wall looked back at me. It
had become a ferocious looking dragon’s head. To both sides, more bodies were making their way onto the Wall.
Ignoring everything, I kept on playing; and as I kept on playing, the dragon slowed down bit by bit. With
the song coming to an end, the Great Wall went back to the place it was built; and with a great thump, settled
down. The song ended and I looked up. The dragon head was gone, the Wall had stopped moving, and the sun
had just risen. Even the bodies had gone back to their graves.
With my shift over, I changed places with another and settled down to sleep, right before playing my Zhong
Hu one last time, treasuring the music that floated in the air. The sleeping dragon had fallen asleep. At least for
now...
* * *