The True Story of the Great Wall
Alex Trevadi, Group 3: Fiction, Xi'an International School
ow, let me tell you the true story of the Great Wall. I know that everybody talks about how great the
Wall is but in reality it was a horrible disaster. How do I know? Well, I helped built it, of course. You
know I was one of the builders. The king was Qin Shi Huang. Do you know what I think he was? He
was a coward.
I saw many of my friends’ wives weep for their husbands and children. I am glad I never married
because if I died I didn’t want anybody weeping for me.
When I was ordered to go to build the Great Wall, I was furious because my uncle had just passed away,
and I couldn’t even be at his burial. I pleaded for them to let me stay until my uncle’s burial, but they said “NO!”
and took me. I had to go with them or die. On the way, I made many friends who lived nearby and were around
my age. They all were frightened out of their wits. I also was very scared and didn’t know what to expect.
When we reached the work site, we saw the construction had begun. Then we immediately were explained
what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. We started building, and on that first day I knew I was not born as a
builder. We worked for a long time, and the work was very tiring. On my first day, I saw another builder die. It
was a gruesome sight. He and some people were pushing a big chunk of rock when some builders slipped on
some water letting all the weight of the falling rock crush him. The soldiers took his body and buried it
somewhere.
I was very depressed and released that everyday I go to work I could die very painfully. But I couldn’t do
anything about it. During the night, I wondered where the soldiers had buried him. The next morning, I realized
the food was horrible and was too little for one man. While we were eating, my new friends told me that soldiers
receive better food than us. I didn’t believe them at first but later on I realized they were telling me the truth. I
was angry and went to complain to the person in charge. He told me to forget about it because he couldn’t do
anything.
We kept building the Great Wall day after day. I saw many builders die by weight crushing them, and
death by exhaustion and malnutrition. Eventually, I became a leader of a batch of new builders. The group
consisted of many young boys. So I taught them how to build and what to do and what not to do. They were fast
learners. I felt depressed for these young boys who now needed to build the Great Wall instead enjoying their
lives with their parents.
While building the Great Wall, I kept on thinking of what else I could be doing right now. I also got use to
the bad food we were receiving and the long working hours. Now, I had developed muscles on my arms, chest,
and legs. Many builders developed muscles because of our long work hours. One good outcome- it made us all
very tired. My life was pretty boring. So in the night, sometimes my friends and I would sneak out and steal
some of the guard’s food. One night a friend was caught and killed by the soldiers. The next day, the soldiers
told everybody to be careful of animals, which had already killed one of the builders.
There was one soldier I despised of. His name was Shen Xiang. He was a brutal man. He scared all the
builders out of their wits. He shouted and beat many builders. He even killed ten builders in his rage. Nobody
did anything about it.
I thought of escape but questioned myself. If I did escape where would I go because soldiers would be
looking for me? If they found me, they would kill me in front of the others as an example. I had never seen a
builder successfully run away. Escaping was a one way ticket to death.
Now I am 40 and becoming old. It is much harder for me to work the long hours I used to. My friends are
also older now. Most of them just want to return to their families. I’m not like them because I have no family
and nowhere to stay if I leave this work. So I thought I should rather stay and help. Here I have food and a place
to stay.
One there was an attack by our enemy. The soldiers made us to leave while they defended the wall. While I
was running from the enemy army, I saw a soldier yelling for help. An enemy soldier held a sword above his
head. So I picked up a sword from a dead soldier, crept behind the enemy and stabbed my sword through his
heart. I helped the soldier and realized he was Shen Xiang. I couldn’t believe I just had saved the life of the most
brutal soldier in the army.
But, I said to myself, even if he is mean and cruel he doesn’t deserve to die.
Later we returned after the battle. Many soldiers had died that day and we had to bury many corpses.
Before going back to the camp, the soldier told me, “Thank You,” and I nodded back.
After that day, Shen Xiang changed and became friendly to the builders and even let some of us finish
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