Ghosts of the Wall
Anna Gould, Group 3: Fiction, West Island School
ose could feel the freezing wind on her neck as she stared out the cable car her family and self were
riding in. She was in a trance, only seeing the Great Wall rising on the mountains before her. Although
she had only seen it in photos, she felt a personal bond with it that she could not explain. She had been
looking forward to this trip for ages and was now psyched to see what she dreamed about every night.
As she raised a hand to her chest where her camera hung from her neck, she yearned for the Car to
move faster as they approached the station. Closer, closer…
“
Rosie, I’m bored!!” Whined Tiger. Tiger was her little brother, and he was clearly not as psyched as
Rose. She turned and said “Alright then, don’t come with us. Just stay here and go back down if you want. Look,
we’re here!” The doors of the cable car slid open and Rose got out. Tiger meekly followed her.
The family walked out into the winter breeze and the crowds of tourists. Rose’s mother was Asian and
her father was European. As a result, Rose spoke both tongues and had dark green eyes and freckles but also
long, Jet-black hair. She also had a Chinese name: Hong Feng Wang. As they approached the steps, Rose’s
mother began telling the legend of the woman and her husband, how they were separated from each other when
the man was sent to work on the wall… and how both eventually died. Rose quickly stopped listening. Oh, how
she hated that sad ending. It was the only thing about the Great Wall that she didn’t like… that it was the longest
graveyard in the world.
“
Rose, Tiger, I want you to stay right behind us”. Rose’s father interrupted her thoughts. “I don’t want
you to get lost.” Lost? Rose looked around. All she saw was the long, narrow, wavy shape of the Wall and the
tourists snapping pictures. How could she get lost here? On the other hand, she didn’t want to fall behind. Not
with the human bones beneath her feet… Rose went after her family.
The view was magnificent. Rose kept running ahead to take pictures of the scenery... and her waving to
the camera… and Tiger moaning about the walk… and her mother gasping for breath… oops. She had been too
absorbed in her camera to notice how far they had gone. She stopped to let them take a break. As she did so, she
happened to look up at the sky. Was it that dark before? She slid back her sleeve and looked at her watch.
2:14…
Not late enough to get dark…
All of a sudden, the hands on her watch stopped completely. The cold winds died but the temperature
dropped at least 10 degrees. Time seemed to stop.
And everyone on the Wall vanished without a trace.
Frightened, Rose backed up to the stone turrets lining the wall. Pale mist started to rise up from the
wall all around her. At least, it looked like mist…
To her horror, the mist took shape, growing arms, legs and heads. On their pale, pearly skin appeared
ripped, dirty clothes. In some of their grasp were shovels and building equipment. Out of their faces peered
blank, bloodshot eyes. In less than a minute, Rose was surrounded by horribly deformed ghosts. And every one
of them was glaring at her.
They spoke a vivid, swift Chinese that was so ancient that Rose could not understand it. But one thing
was obvious… they were cursing her. But they were quick to realise that she could not understand their ancient
tongue. And so they spoke:
“
So finally you have come, Hong Feng Wang. We have waited long for our revenge.”
“
What? Why would you want to take revenge on me? I have done no wrong to you! And how do you
know my name?” Whimpered Rose in Chinese
“
Foul offspring of our enemy! Our killer! The First Emperor of China!”
Rose started. She knew her history well. Qin Shi Huangdi was the First Emperor of China, and he had
indeed passed a law sending every male to work on the wall in its early years. Slave-drivers had been station
there to keep the poor men working, who killed a vast number of them. Others died from starvation, disease,
hardship, collapsing parts of the wall etc. etc. But…
“
What does this have to do with me?”
“
Everything, Hong Feng Wang. Down to your name.”
Rose gasped. She knew that her Chinese first name meant ‘Red Phoenix’. She knew that the phoenix was often
a feminine royal symbol, and red (hence the name ‘Rose’) is a lucky colour. But her last name…
“
Wang means King...”
“
Yes. You have an emperor’s blood in your wretched veins. You are offspring of The Tyrant Qin Shi
Huangdi. You must pay for your ancestor’s sins.”
R