The Conspiracy
Hisham Forster, Group 4: Fiction, Zhuhai International School
p high on the rooftops of a big Chinese village, sat a young man, Jie An, trying to find fun when there
is nothing to do. The moon was high up in the sky. The waxing crescent resting there, staring at him.
He gazed up at all the stars. Constellations. His father used to tell him they made shapes of different
things. He never understood how they would make shapes of anything though. There was no wind or
sign of any life, except the fact that there was still candle light in some of the village houses, and
some villagers sitting outside playing a game of Chinese chess, and people closing down their stalls for the night.
The only sound one could hear was the crazy crickets. But, other than that, the silent night was as still as a stone
on the river bank.
After an hour or so, he decided he would try and find a new way of getting down off the tower. He felt
sick of always climbing down the same ledge over and over again. He looked down, and it seemed much higher
up than it looked when he was down there. He spotted a haystack, in an old wood wheelbarrow, and took
the‘leap of faith’. Air rushing through his face, stomach lifting and he felt a soft splash. He hit the haystack. He
would have to try that off the Great Wall, he thought. It’s even higher than this one was.
When he got home, to his big house that his family lived in, he climbed all the way up the wall to his
bedroom for practice, and fell right into bed, and didn’t get up until the moon fell from the sky, and the sun
came up. He went down in the morning and greeted his family and had some of his mother’s world-class
noodles. It had the perfect amount of flavor, and not too overpowered with the salt. It was perfect, he thought.
She also taught the servant, Wu, how to make them exactly like she does. His mother was a very elegant person.
He couldn’t imagine her not walking with her body straight up. Her black hair was also always tied up, in a bun.
She always wore a silk dress. She also doesn’t smile much. His father on the other side was brave, and always
stood tall. He had short hair, and would get easily disappointed. He also didn’t talk about his earlier life to Jie
much.
Jie felt lucky to have been born in such a wealthy family – for a village of course. They could afford all
the fresh and tasty ingredients. He had some idea of what his dad does for a living. He’s a banker of some sort.
One of the bankers of this crowded village.
He left and headed towards the Great Wall. He was always amazed at how many people there were in
the morning, all trying to get to work, or buying vegetables. He had to get through so many bustling people. At
this pace, he wouldn’t get there until sunset, he thought. He would do this quick. The only way he knew how.
He climbed up the fabric shop and grabbed onto another ledge and there. He was at the top. He could hear
people back down on Earth, talking about some crazy guy crawling up walls. That must’ve been that other old
person that lived next door to him, he thought.
After 20 minutes, when he finally got to the great wall, he parked the horse he ‘borrowed’ right next to
the wall. He had no money at all. He was poor - But his parents weren’t. They didn’t see the need of him
needing the money at all. He didn’t really see the need of it either. He started climbing, but fell. There was
nothing to hold onto, and the ledge was much higher up. He figured out a different technique. He ran fast right
at the wall. He walked up it a few steps and reached the stone ledge and grabbed it with his hands. The next part
was easy. All stone bricks that could be held onto. He kept climbing until, he finally got to the top.
Suddenly a strong warm breeze hit him straight in the back. It was summer, and the sun was high up in
the sky. He hopped into the pathway. People weren’t allowed up there, but who cares, he thought. He was in the
An family. They were allowed to do anything, he thought. He started walking along, and he could see far off,
the big village.
“
Hey! You can’t be up here!” A guard from the left watchtower spotted him. Oh, not the guards, he
thought. He ran and there was a large pond nearby. It was quite a bit of distance from the wall. He would have
to risk it. He jumped as far as he could. Closed his eyes. He couldn’t breathe the air properly. It was all being
forced into his nose at once. Wind – all straight up his face. SPLASH. Luckily he didn’t do a flat bellysplash, he
thought. He dived for it, and the water was extremely cold, but he stayed under. He could hold his breath for 5
whole minutes. It was longer then all the other villagers could do it for. By the time the guard got down to see
where he was, the ripples in the water already disappeared. So the guard left back to his post, thinking that he
was gone.
Jie took the horse back to the transportation service store. When he opened the door into his house, it
was dark. He saw chairs and tables overturned. He hurried in to take a better look. The place had been ransacked.
He called for his father, but there was no answer. Same with his mother.
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