New Tales of the Great Wall
Jennifer Yu, Group 3: Fiction, Shatin College
lay on the big field of fresh grass where my owner used to always ride and play with me. He was a 10 year
old child that was always lively and happy. My owner’s name was Yuxin.
‘
Dalong!’ I could almost hear him call my name. If he was here, he would jump onto my back, and
we would fly into the air, soaring… higher and higher and I remember feeling the air rush from under my
wings, and that impossible feeling of joy, and freedom. I remember that he told me ‘Dalong’ meant ‘Big
Dragon’. I can almost feel his arm stroke my silver black scales, as he sang the country songs that he knew only
too well. I remember the sun glistening off my pale scales as we would dive into the water on a hot summer day.
But he was gone forever now. I remember as he tumbled down the edgy cliff, he kept on calling out my
name. I flew down as fast as I could, but… alas, I was too slow. Just before he died, I was next to him, shielding
him from the piercing rays of the sun. His last words were: Dalong, save our country, China. Fulfill the mission
for me. And then, his head banged against the stone ground. At first, I thought that he was pretending that this
was all a joke, a prank. But when blood seeped out of his mouth, I knew he was dead. A big fat tear rolled down
my face.
Yuxin was determined to help China because his father was the emperor of China and because he has a
passion in ruling the country. Now, China was fighting a war between them and different beasts all over the
world. They came in different shapes and sizes, and they were deadly. Before, one gave me a deep gash in my
throat. It still didn’t fully recover yet. But how can mere citizens fight the beasts? I suddenly knew what Yuxin
meant. I had to help China. And fast.
As I flew up in the sky, the night engulfing me, camouflaging me in its darkness, I thought about my plan
of saving China from these creatures. I circled around China, and spotted the most obvious place of these beasts
attacking China. It was the hills called the Open Gate Hills. They were just around the border of China, and it
was bare, without any vegetation or houses. I flared my nostrils and dived.
Yuxin, I thought. Now, I will complete your wish. May you please rest in peace, my faithful owner. I
rested on top of the Open gate hills, and dipped my silver tipped nose onto the top of the mountain. Slowly, and
gradually, the tip of my tail became something rocky and hard. I could not move it, but I could feel it. As I saw,
the rocky transformation was travelling up my body as it made a beautiful vast road that rode along the
mountains. Every single detail was just like my scales. The silver and black lining of the roads, and the wideness
of my body too. My tail became the open gateway of the Great Wall, my body and my wings became the road
and the walls. My legs that were tucked in were for the stability of the Great Wall. And lastly, my head became
an ever-flowing glittery river that is called the Yangzi river.
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