New Journeys to the West
Clearwater Bay School , Karthikeyan , Jiana - 10
I am on a journey , a journey to the west , to escape from my home and find my life again . I am a normal kid who had a normal life . But , it all changed in one night . It was like any other one , the sun sleeping and the moon weaving our dreams . It was all normal until … BOOM ! I turned . BOOM ! I stood up . BOOM ! I looked out the window . There I saw a thousand , no , a hundred thousand , no , even more , a million at least . A million men marching with rifles in their hands and cunning eyes with cunning smiles . Then I remembered the Bazookas , I thought it was just a children ' s tale my mom told me but I realised it was true .
I rushed to my parent ’ s bedroom to find no-one there , instead a neatly folded bed with a letter on top with my name . I ripped open the letter , it said : { Dear Mei Li , We are very proud of you and we love you so much . By the time you are reading this letter the Bazookas must have come . We are in Nalanda , our origins . To get there you must follow the Black Dog constellation until you reach Shin Teng village . Tell them your situation and say your name including your last name , ok ? Mei Li Shen Wan . There they will tell you about the Amber goose constellation , and you just need to keep on following that until you reach Inakot . There will be a carriage waiting for you . All the food supplies are in the cupboard downstairs . PS : Don ’ t forget to use the escape route
Love , Din Sheng and Yaling Shen Wan }
Salty liquid exited my eyes but I knew it was time to go , I set off . I got a bag , packed clothing , a first aid kit , and a picture of my parents . I swished opened the door to the escape route , slid down the steps , got food ( it was huge ) and Woof ! I nearly forgot Baxter ! I turned to climb up the stairs and out of the blue , Bax came flying towards me . By the time I realised what he was doing he was licking my whole face . I suddenly remembered grandpa Ling Hua Mai . Before he died he told me a chant to say whenever I needed help . “ Lim jai ganga hui .” I chanted quietly but clearly . Unexpectedly , a golden key appeared into my hands . There were little words printed onto it . It said whenever in danger touch enemy with this .
“ Leave ! Leave now or never !” something hoarsely whispered in my ear . Lifting Bax into the air , I set off . As I turned to look at my home , memories flooded my brain , but I knew what I had to do . Heart throbbing , I left my one and only home .
After 1 or 2 hours of walking I reached the Trindi forest . With the last of my courage , I stepped in . Rustle . I turned , nothing , Bax was in his attacking position , I rubbed his head and continued . After what seemed like 5 hours . I sat down and got out my first package of food : a bottle of water , peanut butter and jelly , and dog food . Bax devoured it as if he hadn ’ t eaten for days . By the time I was over , the sun was climbing it ’ s way up the horizon . And the stars , taking quality sleeping time .
For a second I felt like a star awake at night and resting in day . Days passed as fast as a cheetah , a week was gone faster that you could say peanut butter and jelly . No , seriously !
One day , I saw a group of people who looked hawaiian so I went up to them and the first thing that came out of my mouth was Shin teng ? They raised something that looked like poison darts . “ Name ?” the all demanded . “ Mei Li .” I whispered . They started aiming at me . I put my hand into my pocket . Bax was barking louder than ever before . I suddenly remembered . “ Shen wan ! Shen wan !” I said scared . Suddenly a mountain of