Joy in Everything
Gracie Chung, Group 3: Fiction, Hong Kong International School
elix ran through the bushes and the trees as one of the branches slashed a thin cut just under his eye. He
kept running, smiling at the thought of Logan frantically searching for him--it was out of his character.
“
Felix!” Logan’s voice trumpeted throughout the forest, “I found something! It’s huge!”
Everyone knew that Felix had a knack for finding and ‘excavating’ items as he liked to put it.
He suddenly paused in his running, almost tumbling over a barrier of rocks. He couldn’t let Logan have
all the glory, could he? He stood there, for a moment, considering which part of his dilemma was better. He
sprinted back to their house.
“
Yeah, what’d you find?” Felix panted, looking around for a massive find of fossils or...
“
What are you holding?” Felix asked, disgusted, “How is that a big find?”
Logan grinned sheepishly, “Well, the thing is... I--like...”
“
You tricked me into coming!” Felix threw his hands up in annoyance.
“
Hey, but I still found something,” Logan cried defensively.
Felix put his hands on his hips and said challengingly, “Prove it.”
Logan put his hand out and in the palm of his hand was a stone--a stone glistening and amalgamated
with different colors. Felix held his hand out as Logan shrugged and put the stone in Felix's hands. Felix studied
the stone carefully, mesmerized by its beauty. Never in his life had he seen a stone such as this. The texture was
smooth, almost soft, and even though Logan must have been holding it for quite a while, the stone was still ice-
cold. Logan triumphantly said, “See, you’re fascinated by it!”
Felix murmured, “How could you not be?”
There was a moment of silence until Felix uttered an exclamation, “Look! There’s some kind of
inscription.”
He positioned the stone in a way that Logan could see.
“
Hey, I know that! It’s in Chinese or something. I learned a bit at school.
時間
,
that means time. The
next character means travel. Although there isn’t an official word in Chinese for time-travel, that’s what this
must mean,” Logan explained to Felix.
“
Fascinating!’ Felix shook his head and repeated, “Fascinating!”
“
Probably just a bluff. How can you time-travel?” Logan laughed, “Just child’s play.”
Felix whirled on his heel, “This rock says you can time-travel, which means you can!”
“
Calm down, Felix,” Logan chuckled nervously, “I’m not saying I don’t believe this stone, but man,
you gotta be in love with this stone to believe anything it says.”
Felix chose to ignore the comment and rambled on, “...We could go back to ages ago when the
terracotta warriors were buried and stuff! It’s so cool!”
Logan said sarcastically as he played along, rolling his eyes, “Yeah, I totally wish we could go to the
Great Wall of China.”
There was an unnatural moment of silence and the brothers froze. In a flash, the silence was gone.
Instead, they heard the wind moaning and the galloping of the horses' hooves. They were very high off the
ground, on a massive wall. Behind them, they saw a beautiful lady mounted on a horse with servants and guards
accompanying her.
"
Which way do we go?" One of the guards asked Logan.
Logan answered in fluent Chinese, "What?"
Felix noticed that the beautiful lady was silently weeping. Her black hair was tied in an elaborate twist;
her sad, brown eyes were cast downwards and her mouth formed a melancholy smile. She wore an exquisite
costume of red and yellow silk, most likely symbolizing royalty. Who was she?
Logan nudged Felix, "'Apparently,' we are child brigands who they have caught on the way. Also, we
are "supposed" to know the way because we have been wandering on the Wall for a while, which is fine because
I learned the geography of the Great Wall in fourth grade. We have to take this lady. I think he said her name
was Wang Zhao Jun. She is to be taken to the Shanyu, or chief of the Hun."
Felix answered, "I don't think she wants to be taken."
Logan studied the lady carefully, "No, I don't think she wants to, either."
The lady smiled at them as they lowered their gaze. Logan smiled as they came to a fork in the wall,
"
Tell them to take the right."
F