No Umbrella for Life
Colin Chung, Group 3: Fiction, HKUGA College
was wet because it was raining. I had no umbrella above me for shelter. What was more, I could not move,
stuck between millions of others. I looked at my old body, battered by the wind and rain from over the
years. I sighed hopelessly; I knew I needed to stay here for the rest of eternity, or until someone smashed
me.
I felt a sudden pain on my back. A person, probably a visitor, had stepped on me. I started to think. If
it was two thousand years ago, it would have been a soldier with armour, marching around with a serious face,
patrolling, on the lookout for the enemy, the Xiongnu. I remembered the times when we were made, people
were beaten to make more of us to construct miles of wall. Each of us was carved with the name of our builder,
so the soldiers could identify the ones that were not strong enough and punish the ones who made them. Those
who died (the ones who made us) for whatever reasons (hunger, thirst, beaten to death, disease) were buried
underneath us, becoming part of the defence system. Some of them became bones, which were used to scare off
the enemies. Still others were crushed to dust.
During the wars, I heard deafening shouts and the clanging of swords, spears and shields. The sound of
flying arrows that pierced the amour of a man who was riding a horse fell to the ground, trampled by the horse.
Fresh blood seeped from the chest of that very soldier, maybe he was a general. The blood flowed into the dry,
barren ground. The soldiers on each side of me were more and more furious, desperate to end this battle; they
did not want to die.
Over the years, some of us crumbled into fine dust but were replaced by newer, stronger, more durable
ones. I was one of the lucky ones. I came from the 7th century, one of the rare remaining ones of the Qin
Dynasty. I think I am better than all of the others because I survived for a very long time.
During the few centuries after the time I was created, battles still raged on and there was no sign of peace.
My friend died during a battle between the Xiongnu and the Chinese.
He was a good friend. Every morning before I opened my eyes, he would say, “Good morning,” and he
would chat with me until night. He helped me along with everything, even though there wasn’t much to do
every day except be strong together. However, we could still talk to each other.
One day, a normal day, a battle-cry sounded and soldiers rushed toward us, firing sturdy arrows and
carrying sharp, lethal swords that could cut enemies—and us—in half in just one slice. When both sides came
closer, they slowed down. Now cannons were fired! I told the others we were going to be fine. Unfortunately,
one of the cannonballs hit my friend. He broke into two pieces, but he stayed in the wall. Then he lost his
balance and fell into the ravine deep below him. The ravine swallowed him like a black hole. I couldn’t hear a
scream, just a quiet splash in the distance. I didn’t know what to do, I was in despair.
When I finally finished grieving after a long time, my other friend spoke to me, “Don’t be sad, we will all
eventually die, accept death as it is. There is no need to overreact to this.”
“
I shall try,” I said, knowing that I could not get over it, but nevertheless, I could still look forward
hopefully to a bright future.
After there was no king in China (after 1911), there was a civil war between the Communist Party of
China and the Kuomintang, and obviously they fought again on The Great Wall. Finally the Communist Party of
China won and the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan. After that, peace was restored.
We became an attraction, every year thousands of tourists come to visit us. That is quite nice. Almost
everyone knows our names and history now. Even some people take a plane to see us. We are admired and
protected. It is even claimed we can be seen from space! Everybody is amazed at how the Qin Dynasty managed
to create us, either using a lot of men or special methods. Of course, they used a lot of men, maybe more than
the people living in Hong Kong.
Only we, the 3,873,000,000 bricks in The Great Wall of China, know how the Qin people built us. We
obviously did well not telling them. We enjoy being mysterious to humans. Even the top archaeologists cannot
figure out how we came together.
It is marvellous to have visitors come every day to visit us, but it also has its downside. Some people spit
and even urinate on us, and some even leave litter for cleaners (who don’t come often) to clean us. I don’t like
giving talks about littering; however this is absolutely important to us as we are frustrated at the way humans
behave.
Some people, who are sick, blow their nose, but they leave the tissues on us. We hate the germs that
inhabit the snot. Moreover, others might step on it and carry the diseases to other places. This especially
I