The Tales of the Great Wall
Wing Yan Audrey Wong, Group 3: Fiction, Heep Yunn School
ow!’ gasped Summer, looking out from the window of the coach. ‘The Great Wall is really
larger and longer than what I have thought and imagined! It’s really amazing!’
It was the first day of Summer’s two-week study tour in Beijing with a group of
thirty-two boys and girls from Canada. They had just arrived at the Beijing Capital
International airport few hours ago. Their tour guide, Annie Black, a Canadian woman, was
an experienced guide who had been living in Beijing for over fifty years. ‘Okay, boys and girls, here we are −
the Great Wall of China!’ She chirped excitedly as the coach pulled to a stop.
The whole tour buzzed with excitement. Everyone chatted with the person sitting beside him or her. ‘Hey,
wakey wakey!’ Miranda, Summer’s best friend sang: ‘Here is our first stop.’ Summer looked around and found
that everyone was trying to get off the coach first. They then immediately grabbed their backpacks and rushed to
the front as well.
Summer bumped into a boy when she was on her way out ‘Oompf!!’ grunted Summer, her long blonde hair
flew past her shoulder, and fell onto the dirty mattress on the ground. ‘Oops, I’m sorry. My name’s Josh, are you
hurt?’ a warm and friendly voice floated into Summer’s ears. She looked up and gasped. It was her classmate
from her class back in Canada!
When Summer looked up, the boy gasped too. ‘Hey! Aren’t you that girl from my class who is always the top
at everything?’ asked Josh as Summer rose painfully from the ground. Before Summer had a chance to reply to
that, Annie called out, ‘You two over there! Quick! Get off the bus now. We can’t spend all day chit-chatting,
you know! Now get down!’
Summer immediately jumped down the stairs and met up with Miranda. Miranda got this curious look on her
face when Summer ran towards her. She nudged Summer mischievously, ‘Who is that boy you’ve just talked to?
Is he your boyfriend or something?’ Summer blushed embarrassingly ‘N-n-n-no, he is j-just my cl-classmate.’
Miranda stared at her suspiciously and nodded.
Summer enjoyed herself in the whole afternoon. She climbed the enormous stone steps, hid and climbed the
steep stone steps inside various fortresses, and scared every boy who came up to ‘their’ fortress with other girls.
By sunset, Summer and her friends were all worn out. They trudged back to the coach which was waiting for
them at the edge of the road.
Summer was exhausted by the time they went back onto the coach. She flopped onto her seat and closed her
eyes, sinking into her happiness she had just experienced.
Suddenly, Miranda jerked her shoulder, ‘I’m going to sit with Karen. You don’t mind, do you?’
‘
No, I don’t,’ yawned Summer, ‘as long as you sit with me tomorrow.’
‘
Sure thing!’ winked Miranda, and she vanished behind the rows of seats. She stared dully out of the
window, looking at the people who were still getting on the coach.
‘
Erm…excuse me? Does anyone sit here? My friends forgot to save me a seat… Oh, it’s you!’ Summer
turned and saw Josh standing beside her. She blushed slightly in surprise and stammered, ‘O-oh sure…Y-you
c-c-can sit here.’
Just as soon as he sat down, Annie’s voice boomed into the speakers, ‘Has anyone seen Katie? Has anyone
seen Katie?’ We all looked around. No sign of her.
Annie slapped her forehead, ‘Oh, I nearly forgot about her! We left her in the snacks bar!’
All of us scrambled off the coach and dashed towards the snack bar at the farthest point of our trip. We were
all out of breath when we arrived at the snack bar, but what we saw was even more terrifying: big pools of blood
splattered over the rocks. The spot where the snack bar was supposed to be had disappeared.
The entire group helped search for Katie. Petrified, they called her name out aloud, looked into the fortresses,
searched high and low, but still, they could not find her.
Finally, high above in the sky, they spotted a group of vultures flying somewhere, not a very far distance
from their spot. Summer shuddered, a bad feeling rose steadily from the bottom of her heart. Annie was also
shivering in fright, ‘I g-g-guess….we’d better f-follow those birds.’
Nervously, they dashed over to the other side of the hill. All of a sudden, the girls running in the front
screamed an ear-piercing screech. Some boys caught up with them and even the face of the bravest one turned
as white as a sheet of white paper. Annie stared at the scene, and went unconscious. Katie’s body was brutally
damaged and was barely recognisable. Nobody knew what to do.
Behind a big rock, a ghastly, semi-transparent figure of Katie floated into the air.
‘
W