China’s Dragon
Terrence Ip, Group 4: Fiction, Korean International School
he day was at its end, the sun is setting behind the dragons of china while I sat behind my old broken
home. Tomorrow is the day, the day where I am meant to protect my family and friends, the day where
the whole population will thank me, it’s for me to help build the dragon of protection for defense. I got
this job last week and it was shocking.
ever
Hello!” said the Chinese officials from the great palace at the heart of the city, he talked to
yone in our village and I was the last one from our village, he gave me a scroll, pure bamboo
scrolls with a dark writing made from carvings. I slowly rolled open the scroll and it wrote “congratulations, you
are chosen volunteers of the honorable builders, of the great wall of china, you are being sent to the
constructions site on the eighth of august an you must prepare you own belongings.”
T
I looked at my nine year old son and hugged him, he asked “what happened?” , I didn’t answer, I packed
my clothes and food, also my sculpture of my family, and went on my journey.
The officer took all men that was captive of working and building towards the center of the village and
brought us to the horse carriage. We took four days to reach the pit stop which then refueled ourselves with food
and water; we also took many tools with us too.
The day came when I stared up the gigantic dragon head of the great wall, it was massive, with many
workers that were like ants, slowly using mud and natural building blocks to pile up the amazing great wall.
The chief of the site told us to get ready to help build this gigantic dragon, we went through its mouth and saw
the heart of it, scaffoldings were secured and held the mud and rocks in place.
Today we didn’t need to work, we just had to look and practice our skills in the construction area. “It
wasn’t a bad day” said my fellow villagers but then after a night of sleep at the tents we made around the
construction, the nightmare had started.
Officer Lee was our head manager, and he had the power over all of us, he can also make us do whatever he
wants. He snatched the shovel out of my hand and said” one does not simply just build around here” and pointed
us towards a well which was full of water, possibly the only well full of water because this place is a desert.
Me and my villagers headed over to the well and put the wooden bucket and secured it with a long thick
rope, I then slowly pulled down the bucket towards the bottom of the well and it suddenly stopped, we know it
hit the bottom already but then we didn’t want to pull it back up because we didn’t want to work yet so we
waited and waited, until officer lee came around and yelled at us.
I took the blame; he had quickly then told us to fetch the water towards the thirsty workers which needed
the water so badly that they could do anything for it. Then Officer Lee came over to me and said “come over
here!”, I had to go over towards the master who owned everyone at the site and apologize.
That day was the harshest and I had to be sentenced for torture and hard work for two weeks, that day
after I was all worn out and I still had two weeks to come which was even worst.
After those two weeks, I was almost dead and I couldn’t even breathe properly and my limbs are like they are
not attached to me anymore. Then suddenly I felt light and I only saw white and black and I fainted, after that I
felt something but I don’t really know what it was.
The feeling was like my son next to me, it felt like his hand touching my hand, and I suddenly woke up
because of my son and I slowly opened my eyelids like how a person would open a curtain behind a burning sun.
and I saw my wife and my son and they were the reasons of why I woke up and they were the reasons of why I
had to build the wall, to protect them from invaders.
My wife then asked me what happened and why I was fainted for two years.
I was then shocked, I shouted out loud “fainted? Two years?!” I have no idea what happened but this is the end
of this task.
* * *