The Great Wall
Yi Wei (Tony) Jiang, Group 2: Fiction, Xi'an International School
have never seen so many people clustered together. The sun was scorching, but we kept on hiking. We
were on The Great Wall! It was quite hard to enjoy anything with people being shoved around. Mom said
nobody would come today. She was wrong. I never thought I would enjoy this trip after beginning with a
13-
hour long flight. I soon found out that The Great Wall was more than just some old stones. After an hour
or so, we reached a tower. Man, it felt good to be in the shade. Our guide told us that these towers were
supposed to send signals to each other when enemies were approaching. I wondered how and decided to
find out. I began to climb the side of a tower leading up to the top. When I reached the top, I still had no idea
how they sent signals to one another. My brother, John, noticed I was missing first. “Toonnnnyyyyyyyy!” he
shouted. “Where are you?”
I
“
Up here!” I replied. Then Mom noticed.
“
How and why did you climb up there!?” she shrieked.
“
I thought you said children should experience things to learn,” I said. “Get down from there at once!”
“
Okay,” I sighed. As soon as I came down, I asked the guide, “Drake, How did they send signals?”
He smiled and said, “Excellent question young man! They sent signals by lighting the tops on fire. This
wall was connected by the emperor after other emperors built parts of it.”
“
So many emperors built this old stone?”
“
Pretty much,” Drake said.
“
Thanks,” I said.
“
My pleasure,” he said.
I was getting a little bored by now, so I took out a guide to the Great Wall. I was so buried in the book that
I didn’t even notice the wall made a sharp turn. “Gahh!” I screamed.
“
Grab my hand!” John shouted. But it was too late. Or was it? My shirt was caught on the edge, but it
wouldn’t last more than a minute. Just as Drake reached for me, chaos was unleashed. Dad tripped and crashed
into John. He tripped Drake causing him to fall off the side. Well, I did what anyone else with common sense
would do when they saw someone fly off the Great Wall; I screamed. Luckily, he landed on some thick moss
and grass, but he lay there unconscious.
My screaming was also caused by the sound of my shirt ripping in two.
“
Heelllppppp!!!!” Wow! I really am lucky, I thought, despite the situation. Somehow, I had managed to
grab on to a stone. “Never mind,” I murmured. The stone I grabbed on to was loose. I closed my eyes as the
stone moved out of place. AND……… “Whew!” after everything, I was only about one meter away from the
ground.
“
Uhnnuhnuhn…” Unconscious Drake mumbled and started to come back into reality. Just when I was
about to kiss the fresh soil, I heard something like a mix between a wolf and lion’s growl. I didn’t want to look,
but what choice did I have? “What In The World Is That Monster!? Get It Away! Get It Away!” I shouted in one
breath. It was a dog as big as a lion. Its eyes were glistening with delight. I was trapped. I surveyed the scene
and concluded that I was in BIG Trouble.
“
Arooooooo!” It howled and lunged for me. “Arrooooo…Clunk!”
“
OH MY GOD!” I screamed. “WHAT IN THE WORLD!” The creature stopped mid-jump and collapsed
into unconsciousness. Drake had woken up and thrown a rock at it. Then I, in turn, fainted from shock. When I
came to, I noticed I was in the hotel room. Then I saw John, and everything came rushing back to me about
falling off the Great Wall. I shivered. I guess that trip was truly one remarkable adventure.
* * *