The Memories
Coco Tsang, Group 3: Fiction, International College Hong Kong
he wild laughter of children echoed through the valley as they were caught in a sudden tickling attack
from their father.
“
Okay, that’s enough... settle down. It’s nearly bedtime.” He patted each child on the head as
they plodded to their home-crafted wooden bed and snuggled in comfortably. When the lights were
about to go out, the children pleaded,
“
Can you please tell us a story? Please?”
Knowing that they were well-behaved and followed his words, the Father said yes. But as soon as he
was about to start, the grey haired silhouette sat next to the open burning fire stopped him and said,
“
Grandpa will tell you my story.”
Holding his wooden crutches, he slowly made his way across and seated himself next to the bed.
“
This is the story of when I was young, without all these wrinkles and grey hair. My family was very
poor, we were on the street begging for food and money. Everyday it was very hard to carry on, until the
announcement that every man in town was to be called in for building The Great Wall. I was glad, thinking I
would be fed with food, which I couldn’t afford.”
The children sat up, opening their eyes with wonder as their grandpa continued.
“
I remember arriving at the foot of the hill, and seeing the magnificent sight of the dragon like
structure twirling through the greenery. Thousands of young men were next to me, chattering away about their
families and what would happen next. The loud voices of the few soldiers then caught our attention; they put us
into labour groups and instructed us to work right away. I carried heavy rocks and bricks up the hill everyday,
my shoulders were sore and blisters grew from the friction with the construction material. My feet were covered
with scratches and cuts from walking in badly made shoes. Breaks were always something I would look forward
to, although they were only a few minutes. We would be fed with plain rice and boiled vegetables; it wasn’t
enough to fill my empty stomach, but we didn’t dare to complain. If we didn’t work efficiently enough to the
general’s liking, we would be punished with a wooden plank beaten across our backs. The only enjoyment I had
was meeting my friend, Jin. We would talk about everything, help each-other go through bad times and share
our rewards when they were rarely given. We made each-other’s day less painful and stressful.”
The story kept the children wide awake, as they tried to capture every syllable (got rid of s). But
curiosity lead into a question.
“
Grandpa, so where is Jin now?”
A long sigh was the response.
“
He’s at The Great Wall.”
“
We’re confused, Grandpa.”
“
Every man was weak, undernourished and exhausted. Some were lucky, strong enough to stay alive.
Some were unlucky, caught under deadly infections and diseases, unable to fight against the illness. Jin was a
(
from the) unlucky one, he died from fatigue on a steaming sunny afternoon. But he would have been a great
uncle to you children, wish you could have met him...”
“
Are you okay Grandpa? We’re sorry we asked.”
He look stoned for a few seconds, then looked up again.
“
Anyway, let’s continue... No one could take the torture anymore, and again we didn’t dare to
complain. Men tried to run away, but whoever was caught would have painful consequences, even death. There
were a few brave men who were willing to take the challenge, that included your grandpa. I didn’t think much, I
only knew I wasn’t really living anymore, and I would end up sacrificing myself for The Great Wall anyway, so
I took the risk.
We gathered at late night, didn’t even bring any belongings, although we didn’t really have any. I was
scared to be honest, I didn’t want to go back there again but also was afraid to get caught. Some soldiers
discovered us after we ran a few li, they were armed with bows and arrows, and started aiming at us. We hid
behind these large uneven rocks, and pretended to be dead incase they saw our hiding spot. My heart has never
beaten as fast in my entire life, as if it popped out of my body. A few minutes, the non-stop firing of arrows
stopped, the soldiers assumed we were shot by one of the incomings. We ran as fast as we could, ignored the
aching of our muscles as we climbed and fled across the overgrown trees and bushes, embracing every second
of the new chance in life. We travelled across provinces, asking for horse rides from farmers along the way. We
even changed our identity, the soldiers could not hunt us down. Each man left the group at different places, so I
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