New Tales Of The Great Wall
Thomas Yik, Group 3: Fiction, Island School
ave you ever wondered, just a thought, about the way the great wall is shaped? Why isn’t it straight
like a normal wall? Has it ever occurred to you that it looks like a dragon?
These thoughts have bothered me like unfinished homework since the age of six, the first time I
went to Beijing. My life didn’t have a lot of excitement. But once I stepped on the Great Wall, I knew
there was something coming my way.
This secret has been with me until now. Reader, this will change your life as it did mine.
When I stepped onto the Great Wall I felt nauseous; the world spun around me and I felt an invisible force
pulling me back. Instantly people moved around me with unimaginable speed. I saw many faces I didn’t know
and when I opened my eyes, it was already night time.
I stood alone in a forest. A breeze blew lightly in the night sky and I pulled my jacket tighter. At that
moment I was confused. Why was I not at the Great Wall anymore? Where were my parents? I sat down and
cried. I didn’t know where I was. My parents were gone and I didn’t know what to do. I stood up after a while. I
had to pull myself together; I had to find my parents. At that point my world went black.
I woke to find myself in different clothing than before. It was old and brown, although it fitted me quite well.
An old woman with wrinkles came in with a bowl of foul-smelling liquid. It was brown and very hot. She said
to me that her son was out hunting and had thought I was an animal so he had hit me over the head. I thought
that this is my way of finding my parents so I asked her if she saw them. She said she didn’t and I could stay if I
helped around. I walked outside of the bamboo house and I found something I thought to be extinct…
Black and white bear-looking creatures were everywhere. Now I know they were called pandas. Just at this
moment a man walked by me into the house. I presumed that this man was the old woman’s son. He has been in
there for only a few minutes before he came out to talk to me. I asked him about the pandas and how in Beijing
they were not extinct.
“
Extinct?” He said confusingly. “They are not extinct.”
I continued to ask him about the present year. He told me there was no date. China was still in chaos. I ran
away from the conversation and cried in the forest. This meant I would never be able to find my parents. I told
myself I must not despair. I must now make the most of my life.
My training had started. To survive in the chaotic place I now live in, I must learn to fight. The elders have
taught me many things. It has only been a year but I have learnt how to use a bow, a sword and to fight. But
even with these new abilities and my new home I have never forgotten the strange way I got here. The only
purpose of me still living is to find a way back or forwards.
I positioned myself next to a tree. Snake-like vines dangled off it. This perfected the camouflage. The guard
of the temple was patrolling around. My goal was to kill him and to see what treasures the temple holds. I
steadied my breaths and pulled up my longbow. My unsuspecting prey has no clue my sharp arrow would end
up through him. A splash of blood splatters on an old tree, quickly followed by an arrow. I quickly retrieved my
arrow as I have learnt not to waste and I entered the dark and eerie temple.
My steps rang out of the cold stone floor. Drips of sticky liquids joined in the creepy orchestra. I lighted up
my wooden torch and continued into the belly of this abandoned temple.
When I finally entered into the main room I saw many valuable things. There was a golden vase and I knew
the chief of the village would be pleased with me this time. Suddenly whispers from the dark started like an
applause. I couldn’t make out what those whispers were but I was almost certain it was a warning. It sounded
threatening. I finally controlled my jelly-like legs and made my move towards the vase. Right next to the vase
was writing. My torch was blown off. Right before I could make out the first character, it just went off.
I felt the dark presences come closer. I lit up my torch again and they went away. I thought I was just
claustrophobic, but it was part of so much more.
I shone my torch closer to the writing and it read: “Do what I say or you will endanger us all. Use the
writing brush and the ink beside you and draw two eyes on each of your palms, eyes open. Don’t question it,
just do it. Ignore the whispers. Go toward the vase and pick it up. Use both palms. Then pour all the blood out of
the vase. Don’t look inside. Make sure all the blood is poured out and take the vase to somewhere else, like an
abandoned temple.”
I did not do what it read. An even until now I regretted that decision. My hunger for greed and being able to
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