The Tales of the Great Wall.
Charlotte Kwong, Group 3: Fiction, Shatin College
pressed my face against the window looking at the thunder and rain. It was mid-November and not far
from now I am going to hear the sound of cannons and gunshots being fired. I squinted my eyes and looked
out in the distance and saw tiny black figures walking along the Great Wall, probably workers still
finishing what is to become the most magnificent piece of historical structure ever built. I stared gloomy at
the scene remembering every bit of the conversation I had with the emperor. Rejection, sadness, never-
ending fights of our lives but I tried and tried to convince the emperor to stop all this madness going on but he
just wouldn’t give up. He wanted glory even if it means killing and death and war. I looked up to see the ceiling
shaking as I got up and trudged over to the dining table where my parents left my dinner before they left. They
were going to the farm to check on the animals then over to the Great Wall where they are working there part-
time. My family is not what people call rich so when the emperor asked if my parents wanted to work as a part
time job they didn’t have any choice but to accept for my sake. My family owns a farm, every day after school I
would come back home and help my parents with the animals and crops at the farm. I love farming usually
because this is the only time that me and my parents can bond and be together. At night, my parents will then go
to the Great Wall while I did my homework. They would usually come back at 11:30 and a lot of the times I’m
still not in bed yet. I would just sit on my bed thinking about what’s going to happen in the future and the stress
and pain. I sat down and started playing with my food because I don’t feel like eating. I kept repeating the
conversation with the emperor again and again because it just felt like it was all unreal like I still have a chance
of shutting this war down but I knew there was no way the emperor is going to change his mind. Eventually I
finished my dinner so I headed to my room to finish reading my book. The book is called Inkheart. It is about
fairies and goblins and giants and a hero who saves the world from a creature, a creature so powerful that it has
no shape and no face but you can’t touch it either. I have already read it thousands of time before but I really
love it so I just kept reading it another reason is that my family can’t afford another book.
I spent the next hour or so reading my book until I heard a loud knock on the door. It can’t be my
parents because they have a key and even if they forgot, they wouldn’t knock that loud. I crept slowly to the
window, crouching down, like I’m in a spy movie. I peeked at the window and saw two men wearing red and
black uniform holding a piece of paper. I recognized that uniform anywhere, I saw it while visiting the emperor,
and they are the emperor’s soldier or something like that. I opened the door looking curiously at the soldiers.
“
Hi, are your parents homes?” the one with the glasses and moustache said with a squeaky voice. I couldn’t help
myself but smile. “No, they’re not home yet,” I said with my mature voice, “They may be home about 12
though.”
“
Oh, well give this to them, okay little girl?” The soldier said with a smile but something about that
seemed like it wasn’t good news. When they gave me the envelope, my hand was shaking, afraid that it was
going to be what I expect it to be.
I spent the night studying for my big chemistry test tomorrow, remembering every word equation and
the periodic table of elements. I kept muttering it to myself, “Iron is Fe and Carbon is C.” I needed to get a good
grade on this test so I can get a good job in the future and live a happy life.
I drifted slowly to sleep, dreaming about the war, about the destruction, about the pain and agony of
people when suddenly, I woke up to the sound of drums and cannon shots. I quickly ran to my window, still half
asleep and saw the destruction of war happening. Fire everywhere, spreading like Sars to the thousands of
people. I immediately ran out the door to the field to see what was going on. I heard someone shouting “Get out
of here! Get your parents! We need them!” I did as I was told but when I got home, they weren’t there anymore.
I started looking around the house, the farm, everywhere I could think of then eventually I gave up and went
back home. I wanted to cry, I was so sad and depressed. Where could my parents have gone? Then at the corner
of my eye, I saw an envelope. It says ‘From Mom and Dad.’ I opened the letter and read what it said.
World War 1 is about to happen.
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