A Requiem unto a dream
Jack Tsien, Gr
e ran. He ran from the flickers, the flashes of light that seared his eyes. He ran from the husk, the
flaming shell of his family. He fled from the house that had sheltered him since time immemorial, had
given him a reason to live; to protect his sister. His sister. Sister? He had a sister? He was so tired, so
very tired. He saw…something. Shadows danced at the edge of his vision, and he fell, his last sight
that of the shadow swooping down to grab him.
oup 4: Fiction, Island School
H
Xiaoren woke up with a gasp. What was that dream? A boy, his family taken. That rush of emotions had
woken her, and looking around, she realized she had woken well before breakfast. Her bedside clock showed
that it was still a few hours away from when she had to leave for school, and so she curled up and thought. That
dream. All she could remember was the boy stumbling away from the burning wreck of his house, of grinning
faces as they dragged his sister and mother away from there, and of his father, whose screams of defiance
echoed through the night as they… what did they do? Her memory of the dream ended here. Pulling herself out,
she ran to the window, to stare at the Great Wall that rose to the backdrop of the dark sky. That had been the last
she had remembered, the beginnings of a wall stretching across the horizon.
Soon afterwards, she had already forgotten about the dream. She returned home, tired from a day of
studying and reading books. She passed the library, and on an impulse, ducked inside. The librarian glanced up,
and recognizing her, gave her a quick wave before returning her book. Xiaoren didn’t need any help navigating
the labyrinthine passageways of bookshelves, being a frequent sojourner through these passages of truth and
delusion, herself. She let herself wander before stopping at a bookshelf and looking up, she had stopped before
one on the history of Chinese war. Last night’s dream returned in a rush of heat, and she found herself reaching
for a book detailing the history of the Great Wall. She left the library, having quickly checked the book out with
the desk (she was on good terms with all the librarians) and hurried home.
That night, she switched on her nightlight and opened the book, eager to learn more of the history behind
the horrific dream last night.
He woke, to the glare of the sun’s single eye glaring down to him. He wondered where he was, where was
his father? his mother? His sister? He sat up and looked around. Someone had wrapped him up in a blanket. But
why was he…? Then he remembered. He remembered the husk of his house, now nothing more than a marker
of what had been, and he remembered the stake driven into where his parents had slept, and where one of them
now slept the final sleep. He remembered the faces of the demons as they dragged away his mother and sister,
the screams of both his father and mother still fresh in his memory.
“
Finally awake now, are you?” a voice rang out from behind him, He started and looked around. Behind
him sat an old man, with black eyes that gleamed of a wisdom acquired through the time. The man looked at
him, and he shivered as those eyes bore through him, seeing through all there was to him. “You’ve slept through
most of the morning, boy, and you aren’t doing me much good sitting there wallowing. I’m Logao, pleased to
meet you.” As the boy sat there, a slow burning rose in him, what did this person now? What did he know of the
keen sense of loss, like a cut deep in his heart, felt like? What right had he to complain of him wallowing!? He
opened his mouth and tried to speak, but no sound came, only a croaking cry.
“
Don’t you speak, boy?” He tried again to reply, but was met with failure once more. He tried again, and
failed once more. He gave up, shaking his head instead.
“
I saw your face there.” The old man stated, “Anger will do you no good, not if you want to take back what
those bastards took from us.” Us? The old man too had lost somebody to the demons?
“
I can see your face. You think you are the only person to ever lose anyone? They took my family too, they
just left me because I wasn’t there. I was hiding out here, looking to see if I could help anyone around here.
They’ve had their eye on your family for a while, and they got them just like they got mine.” He broke off, and
stared at the stone on the horizon. “That’s where they were taken to, boy” Logao stated, “they drag off anyone,
children, men, women and old cripples. Anyone who can lift a stone is dragged off to the wall, their possessions
burned if they resist.”
He knew now! He knew where his mother and sister were! He could fulfill his oath to his father, to protect
them to his last breath. He turned away from the old man, his mind set on rescuing his family.
“
I wouldn’t go that way if I were you.”
The old man had called after him, “You wouldn’t get within a bow’s shot of there without dying, and what