Huangshan Tales ESF West Island School, Beed, Lara - 11 It was a cold and gloomy night. I sat on my hard mattress, shivering as the thin blanket did very little to help me feel warm. The only chance I could feel like a normal villager was when I snuggled with my fluffy siamese cat, called Blossom. Unfortunately, Blossom was too busy trying to keep warm herself, unwilling to feel my cold hands in her paws. My dad wasn’t making enough money to afford a heater. Ever since my mother died, we went from a wealthy family to a family that got excited over spare mints in trash cans. I tried to sleep, but failed miserably. It was just no use. “Come on, JUST FALL ASLEEP! You survived the worst part of winter. It’s almost spring!” I said to myself. Soon, I fell asleep, but only after I wore all my ragged clothes on top of each other, wore my torn socks, and took my cat away from my dad, bearing with the wails of Blossom as she shivered violently in my arms. After that horrible night, I ran to the village well to get water for me, my dad, and Blossom. I ran off, grabbing my bucket. And so I continued, running to the well, ignoring all the rude remarks and comments that were thrown at me by the richest chinese kids in the village. I quickly reached the well in record time: 1 hour. I started to lower the bucket to get some water, but then I saw it. The rich kids, playing in the village park. One kid saw me, and said: “Oh! Look! It’s the poor girl!” I was so mad, that I completely forgot what I came to do in the first place. “I am not poor! I have enough money, and i’m not spoiled like you!” I shouted in anger. “What are you gonna do, baby?” he replied. “This.” I said. “What? You aren't doing any- Ouch!” I cut him off. As he was talking, I kicked the bucket. He cried out in pain and agony and ran off with the other kids. I collected my bucket and started to gather water. A while later, I arrived at my home, well, home isn’t the word to describe it. It’s more like a roof with sticks and a tiny door! Anyway, I wished I hadn't. I wished it was a nightmare, but sadly, it was true. I opened the door only to see that my house was being invaded by ALIENS!! Well, not the flying around type in UFO’s with antennas, but the 2 most spoiled, posh people I have ever met: The new kid and his annoying father. My life isn't and wasn’t THAT interesting. “Hi! What’s your name? I’m Jack. Nice to meet you!” “Don't really care.” I replied, rolling my eyes sarcastically. I didn't think he would take it too personally, but he ran out of the house and started bawling his eyes out so loudly that I could hear it from my room! I yelled at him telling him to keep it down, but I think I made things worse. Soon, he came back in, to my disappointment. I was forced to talk to him while my Dad and his were talking. Apparently, they were long friends back when my Dad lived in America. Since I was 3 years older than Jack, I was told by his Dad that I should babysit him while they went for a walk. I was about to say no, but then I saw the pleading look in my Dad's dull grey eyes. “Sure!” I replied, trying to look and sound happy. “Great! Let's go then!” my Dad exclaimed, obviously happy with my choice. “Bye daddy,” yelled Jack excitedly, “Hope, we’re gonna have so much fun!” As soon as they left the house, Jack suddenly became calmer. He acted differently, less exciting and more self absorbed. “Why don’t we go for a walk?” I suggested, hoping he would say no. To my surprise, he said no. “How about YOU go for a walk and I'll just chill here.” He said. Suddenly, I got mad. How dare he act like that in someone else's home! My home! Such a spoiled brat. I yanked him and his thick jacket, and pulled him to the door. “What are you doing? Let go of me!” he screamed. I held on and started to make my way out of the doorway. “Ugh, would you stop being a baby for once?” I said as he whined and complained. We were about halfway there to the village well, when Jack got a call from his Dad. “Hi Dad!” “Hi Jack, I have some bad news…” “What?” “We have to move.” “Again? We just got here! Please, no!” “ I’m sorry, Jack. We aren’t welcome here. The emperor wants us to go. We can’t refuse.” “Is there any way we can stay?” “Unless the emperor changes his mind, I’m afraid not.” “Well, then I’ll make him change his mind.” “Jack, don’t get in-” Jack hung up the phone, with a mixed expression on his face. “What is it?” “I have to move, AGAIN! I don’t want to, but I can only stay if I do something amazing to make the emperor change his mind!” “You could throw an epic party?” “Nah, my Dad would get mad.” “You could, um, make the best chinese dress?” “Ew! Gross!” “Well, you could climb Huangshan. But no one ever has come back down!” “Huang what?” “Huangshan, you dummy!” “Huangshem?” “UGH!! Just call it… um… China’s Magical Mountains!” “So, let's go!” “What? We can’t leave now! It’s freezing cold during the day, and burning at night! There are dangerous plants that could kill us if we get too close! We need to pack!” “So I’ll go home and pack, and you do the same!” “Ok, why not?” I said sarcastically. I hoped he didn’t think I actually wanted to come. Sadly, he did. As soon as me and Jack were done packing, we snuck out at midnight. I was really nervous, so I brought Blossom. I was scared, but I knew I had to be the braver and more responsible one because, after all, he was younger than me. As we reached the base of the mountain, the sun started to rise, blooming a mix of orange, yellow, pink, and blue. Suddenly, I felt lighter. I felt as if the sunrise had given me enough hope, that I could finally believe we were going to make it down. As we climbed, we faced lots of obstacles, such as wild animals trying to eat either us or our food, poisonous plants ( which Jack kept collecting ), and the seemingly endless hike up to the top. Unfortunately, Blossom didn’t make it up. Halfway through the climb, she started to act really sick, and she could not continue. She died the next day. I was so sad, I cried the rest of the way up. It was devastating. Jack acted normal, but in our camp one night, I heard him crying and saying the name ‘Blossom’ over and over in between sobs. I didn’t think he would get too attached to her. I didn’t bother to comfort him, because, well, I have a history of making him miserable. However, we made it. I don’t know how, but we did. And when we reached the top, we saw it. The village. “Wow, a village? Where are all the people?” Jack asked. “I don’t know. Let's find them!” I replied. We walked all around, only to come across a mother and her son, a cat, and an old cable car leading back down to our village. “This is how we used to get down the mountain to get water. Our village cable car was destroyed, leaving us no way to collect water. Most of us died off, and some of us moved, but me and my son stayed. We made our own source of water. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough.” The mother said.” We managed to fix the well, and came down after saying goodbye to the mother and her son. We were so excited! Jack could stay! I was not going to be poor! We got out of the cable car at the base of our mountain, and ran to my home. Turns out, our parents were looking for us! We were only gone for a day, but we could understand why they were worried. 4 MONTHS LATER Jack and I finally got noticed by the emperor. He got to stay in the village, and I was granted 1 wish of my choice. I chose for my family to be wealthy and healthy, throughout the rest of their lives. Me and Jack became good friends. A couple of days later, it was my birthday! I got one of my most favourite presents. A siamese, fluffy cat, just like Blossom! I decided to call it Flower, after blossom. It was a happy ending, thankfully. Max and the Magical Crystal ESF West Island School, Beed, Neil - 13 My mother hid me in my bedroom. I was only six when The Sacred attacked my little Chinese village in the middle of a blizzard. She ran out onto the plaza, her sword clattering by her side.