New Tales of the Great Wall
Tiffany Yip, G
he moment I stepped on those ancient stones, I was already awed by the most amazing construction on
Earth ever – the Great Wall. Extended over 11 kilometers long, the Great Wall of China is like a
slithering snake, gliding up and down the hills and mountains.
and
roup 3: Fiction, Maryknoll Convent School Secondary Section
“
I can’t believe we have arrived! It feels so unreal, I mean, we are on our first vacation alone,
we’ve stepped on the Great Wall,” Ben said, opening his arms as if to catch in the wind and fly.
“
This is beautiful!” exclaimed Lucy.
T
I walked to the side of the pathway, examining the rocks, probably being placed here centuries ago.
“
They said you must go to the Great Wall once to be a good guy. I know how it feels now,” I spoke my heart. I
was proud, really proud, for being up here, as a Chinese, overlooking the landscape of our motherland from
where our descendents have also watched.
“
Why is it so hot here? It’s just May, dude!” I said. “Wanna get some cola?”
I bought cola for us from the mobile kiosk nearby. We sat by the wall, popped open the cans and
gulped down, just like any summer days.
The least thing you expect in a can of cola is that it tastes like fanta.
“
Hey, this cola…” Ben said.
“
Is it fanta?” asked Lucy.
“
Since when have they started selling tangerine-flavored fanta?”
This was the last thing I said before I went unconscious.
I didn’t really know that I was unconscious. I just woke up with a start like I did in class. In class, you
sleep with the teacher talking, and when you wake up, the teacher is still having his/her boring talk. But right
now, I slept with tourists around me, and when I woke up, arrows were flying over my head.
“
Where are we?” I asked in shock, “And these arrows! Why are they here?”
“
Are we on a movie set?” Ben muttered.
Before I could reply, two guys in traditional Chinese soldier uniform already grabbed our arms.
“
What are you kids doing here?” asked the soldier. BOMB! We heard the cannon fired.
“
No! I mean, I’m sorry! Sorry for crushing into your movie set!” Lucy yelled nervously.
“
Put them here first, I’ll deal with them later,” another beard guy ordered. From his uniform, we could
see that he was a General.
The soldiers asked us to stay at the corner of the watchtower. Gosh, it was so stuffy here.
“
Where are we? On a movie set?” I asked. “Please tell me this isn’t a real battle.”
“
Or worse,” Lucy said darkly. “Sir, what year is this?”
“
Yongle Year 5,” answered a random soldier guy. “You don’t know this, kid?”
Yongle, yongle… Ming Yongle!
“
We’re in the Ming dynasty??” Lucy, Ben and I almost said this together.
“
Why, yes.”
I would prefer a ’no’ for answer, to be frank.
Ben looked at me, his face as pale as sheet. “What can we do now?”
“
We will just… eh, find a way to get back to our time,” I said hopelessly. What kind of nightmare were
we in?
“
I believed it was the fanta,” Lucy whispered, leaning closer. “We drank it, and we were unconscious,
then the next second we are here.”
“
All we need to do is drink the fanta again then!” I said happily. “Sir, have you seen some cans lying
around?”
“
No,” a soldier answered. “Could you just keep quiet? We have an important announcement.”
“
Comrades,” said the General. “We are currently in a very bad situation. The Mongols are too strong.
This, the Great Wall, is our last guard. We’ll switch to Plan 2! We will bomb them off with our cannons.”
He then started giving out orders. “Squad 1, the North fort. Squad 2, the West line…”
That was when I started to believe that we really were in the Ming dynasty.
“
What happens if they lose?” Ben asked worriedly.
“
At best, we are captured by the Mongols. At worst, we die,” I frowned. “It’s so dangerous here.”
“
Now the cans are gone, we are helpless,” Lucy shook her head. “Let’s just stay and see what we can
do.”