that Xiao was the fastest among them; he discovered this after running around with him when they were young
and Xiao never got tired. While walking around the house, his eyes caught a packet of sleeping pills that his
mother used for medication and he thought of drugging Xiao by mixing it with his favourite drink. As soon as
Xiao passed out , he ran outside into the fading rain and began attempting to catch up to Chen—all while Xiao
was in a deep slumber.
Xiao Li woke up three hours later with his head spinning and arms trembling when he tried to stand. It
was only a matter of time before he realized that his brother had drugged him, and he knew of the possibility
that Ben and Chen had cheated their way to the end of the Great Wall. Furious, he stood up and ran out of the
house, trying hard not to give in to the wave of nausea that struck him from time to time. There were barely six
hours left until the sun would come out to replace the full moon and he was not going to let himself lose. After
reaching the starting point of the Great Wall, he started to run but paused when he felt a loose brick beneath his
foot. He lifted it and found a sheet of torn paper peeking out. Curious, he picked it up and read a note about a
young boy who had lost his sister over a race to the other end of the Great Wall. Apparently, she never returned.
Almost instantly, he dropped the sheet of paper and ran. He could feel the wind brush past his cheeks and the
heat of adrenaline rush through his veins—he remembered the consequences of the prophecy and needed to save
his brothers before it was too late.
Around three hours passed and he could feel fatigue and dehydration kicking in. He continued to run,
though doubts began to cross his mind. What if they’ve already reached the other end? What if I were the one
who couldn’t finish? Will I die? Would they care? He shook his head to brush off the negative thoughts, but
they continued to haunt him the further he walked. Frightened, he started running again, ignoring the stinging
pain that his legs were feeling. His throat went dry and his feet went numb but he still kept running because he
knew that the run was nothing compared to ten years worth of working. He wanted freedom—but he loved his
brothers. Contradictions overloaded his mind and tears began forming at the corner or his eyes but he still
wouldn’t stop.
The glowing hues of daybreak were making its way through the velvet sky and Xiao Li could sense the
moon slowly moving away. He could already see the other end of the Great Wall but he knew that he couldn’t
move any more. He was seconds away from passing out and he could do nothing but stand motionless. I’m
going to die. Pale faced, he glanced up to watch the clouds move to let out rays of sunlight. He stood there and
observed the different shapes that the clouds formed, until he noticed one that looked like a deer running across
the sky. But I want freedom. As if the flicker of hope inside of him turned to a flame, he ran one last time and
just before the sun peered through the clouds—he leapt to the end of the Great Wall.
I really wanted to be rich. Yes I know, and I wanted to work for a big-time company. But apparently,
that’s not what we actually needed. Anyway, is Xiao Li still sleeping? Xiao Li. Xiao Li. X—“Xiao Li.” Xiao
woke up to the sound of Chen’s voice and Ben slapping his cheek. “Wake up.” Xiao rubbed his eyes and
yawned, “Good morning. What happened?” Ben and Chen took a glance at each other and back at Xiao, “We
ran for eight kilometers.” It only took a while until Xiao remembered everything, especially after feeling an
immense pain on his thigh after attempting to stand up. “Then why are we all still here? One of you should have
had your desire fulfilled already.” “That’s what I thought too,” Ben said, “but didn’t you read that sheet of
paper?” “Yes.” “Well, Chen did too. And we all must have thought of the same thing after reading about the boy
who had lost his sister over the race.” Chen nodded. “So we thought of saving each other,” Xiao said with a
smile tugging at his lips. It grew even larger when he came to realize, “In the end, that was our greatest desire.”
The Great Wall of China was built to protect its nation. However, hundreds of lives were lost during
the process. Despite their need for freedom, they sacrificed their lives to build it in order to save their people
from the consequences of war—because what scaresus the most is the thought of not being able to protect what
we love.
* * *