New Tales of the Great Wall
Sazha Marquez, Group 2: Fiction, Beacon Hill School
ell, here we go...again.” Elizabeth groaned. Elizabeth Wang was a beautiful 12-year-old
girl. She had beautiful wavy hazel-colored hair with hypnotic green eyes and a cheerful
smile AND don’t forget the combat boots! But there’s more to Elizabeth than meets the
eye. She had a secret—a secret nobody knew, except herself. But as Elizabeth would later
discover, the secret she had been hiding was only the key to an even bigger secret!
“
Are you sure you don’t want to bring a friend along? This is your last chance!” Mrs.
Wang asked.
“
W
“
Yes.” Elizabeth dryly replied.
She and her family had taken a trip to China to see the Great Wall. First time for Elizabeth, the second for
her little brother, Jerome. Jerome was a handsome little 9-year-old boy who had black tousled hair and dark
brown eyes. “Wahoo! This is going to be awesome!” he exclaimed.
“
More like seriously tiring.” Elizabeth muttered.
“
Now, now, darling. It’s okay. It’s Jerome’s turn to have fun now. I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun! Let’s
see, why don’t you go chase your brother while crossing the Wall!” Mrs. Wang suggested.
Elizabeth just rolled her eyes.
When the Wangs reached the next “mini-tunnel”, as Jerome liked to call it, Elizabeth saw something very
unexpected, very unexpected indeed.
Right in front of her was a faint purple wall. “Uh, mom?” she called. The purple wall seemed to be
sucking her in.
“
Yes, dear?” Mrs. Wang answered.
A loud scream caught their attention. “Elizabeth!!!” The Wangs exclaimed. “Mom, I need to tell you...”
Elizabeth started. She was already halfway into the purple wall. The Wangs just stared. “I have the power to
open porta...aaargh!” The wall was up to her nose...and she vanished.
Elizabeth opened her eyes and her jaw dropped. She was in shock. Right in front of her was an entire
kingdom! “
I have the power to open portals. Only...only if I could control it!”
She thought.
Elizabeth saw a tall man holding up the sky and the earth. She saw a cloud nearby. “This won’t work!
Impossible, I can’t sit on a cloud!” She argued. But, her curiosity got the better of her. She tried sitting on the
cloud...and it worked! Elizabeth focused on the kingdom. “What’s it called? The kingdom...China...Ah! I know
this place! The Middle Kingdom!”
It seemed that every time Elizabeth remembered the myths, a new being appeared before her. But there
was a problem. The story of Nü Wa. Everything else was there but not Nü Wa.
A dragon flew past her. It circled her a few times until it stopped in front of her. “Whoa. You’re
amazing.” Elizabeth gaped. Indeed she was. Her scales were glossy red and her tail puff was absolutely silky
smooth, her eyes were a beautiful violet and her skin was shiny gold. Her whiskers floated about in the thin air.
She stared at Elizabeth as if saying:
Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go see the other stuff!
Elizabeth shuffled onto the dragon. “WHOAAAAAAA!” Elizabeth screamed. The dragon was so fast that
Elizabeth’s body was stuck on the dragon’s back.
Once they reached the ground, Elizabeth felt dizzy, too dizzy to walk to one of the houses in the desert.
So she fainted. And fell asleep on the spot.
When Elizabeth awoke, she was surrounded by a group of villagers and they were asking each other: “Is
she The One? Can she help us? Will she turn us back into mud?”
Mud... Common People... Nü Wa… The One.
It all connected and made sense. She, Elizabeth Wang, was
the legendary Nü Wa.
Suddenly, a flaming red bird appeared in front of Elizabeth. It bowed to her and said, telepathically:
“
Thank you for everything I have.”
“
Impossible! The phoenix!” A villager said.
Suddenly, the phoenix grew bigger and stronger until it was the size of the dragon!
“
Get on” it said. Elizabeth got on.
As they flew, they passed the Middle Kingdom. There, Nü Wa finally appeared. But now, Nü Wa was in
the shape of Elizabeth Wang.
The phoenix conjured a portal to go to where Elizabeth came from.
Once they got into the portal, Elizabeth looked back. Then, she fell into a deep dark chasm.
“
Are you sure you don’t want to bring any friends? This is your last chance!” Mrs. Wang asked.
It’s as if time had frozen and Elizabeth was back on the Great Wall.
“
Déjà vu!
”
Elizabeth thought.
“
Yup!” Elizabeth excitedly answered.