Whoosh
Siw Lund, Group 3: Fiction, Zhuhai International School
th century B.C.
Day: 1
“
Lin! Wake up and go fetch some water,” my mother demanded. Even though I was tired, I
sprang out of bed. Then I quickly combed my long, thick, black hair and tied it into a braid because I
knew it was going to be hot outside and I did not want my hair to stick to my neck.
Next, I put on a light brown shirt, which used to be white. It was brown now because the mud and dirt
from the rice field had sunk into it. But we could not buy a new shirt because we were poor. But that’s okay
because I don’t understand why you need to buy shirts all the time.
Finally I did what my mother asked me to do. It was hot outside today, and I could already sense the
sweat appearing on my forehead.
When I got back with a bucket full of cold water, I saw two horses standing outside the house
munching grass. I could tell they were soldiers’ horses. I dropped the bucket because I was worried that the
soldiers were there to take my dad to build the new long wall, like they had with many other people.
I snuck into the house to eavesdrop. The soldiers were in the middle of a conversation with my mother,
father, and my sixteen year old brother. Nobody even noticed me coming in. I was scared of the soldiers. They
looked angry, as if they had no feelings. My parents looked as scared as me, but I could not tell how my brother
felt. I tried to understand what the soldiers were saying but some of the words they used were too hard for me to
understand. The soldiers are educated and I was not. I could feel the tension in the air.
When they finally departed the house, I asked, “What did they want?” That’s when everyone noticed
me. My parents looked like ghosts, long and pale faces. Nobody said a thing.
Finally my brother answered, “They want me to come help build the new long wall,” he whispered.
I was right. That was why the soldiers had come. I was only 12 but knew some facts about the wall.
The wall was going to be huge, 5 – 9 meters tall. A lot of people were forced to help build it, and so many
people had died. I could not even imagine my brother not ever coming home again. “But why do you have to
help?” I asked.
“
Because Father has problems with his knee, so I have to do it instead of him.” No one said anything
except my five year old little sister.
“
Can I have some food,” she chirped. Apparently she didn’t understand what was going on.
“
Shhhhhhhh.” My mother pushed her away. I wasn’t about to explain to my little sister that our big
brother was going to leave us for a very long time and he might even die like the many others.
I raced to the bedroom where my grandmother was lying in her bed snoring. Usually I would not wake
her up, but my brother had to leave today and I thought she should also have a chance to say goodbye to him, so
I shoved her a little.
Finally she woke up. I told her what was going to happen to my brother in a quiet and concerned voice.
Tears began making their way down my cheek. My grandmother did not look surprised. Then she mumbled
something to herself that sounded like, “I knew it.”
I wondered how she knew this was going to happen, but I stilI didn’t make a sound. It was so quiet I
could hear crickets outside.
For the rest of the day, my big brother and I worked in my family’s rice field. I was really going to
miss him. He was always telling stories and riddles to my little sister and I. Would he never get the chance to do
that again?
“
Where did you put the water you got this morning Lin?” my mother interrupted my thoughts. I had
forgotten to get new water after I dropped the bucket.
“
Brother can you go get the water. My hands are covered in mud,” I whined because even though my
brother was leaving, it didn’t mean he couldn’t do some work before he left.
“
Mother asked you to do it. Not me, you do it!” my brother snapped back.
So once more I had to go get water, this time with mud slowly drying on my hands. This was one of
those times that I was not going to miss my brother gone.
When it was time for my brother to leave, we all said good-bye and wished him luck. Then we gave
him some food and water because we did not expect him to get much to eat or drink while building the wall.
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