New Journeys to the West
Singapore International School ( Hong Kong ), Lau , Adele - 10
The wind howled , as the trees swayed in the wind . Stars twinkled in the dark sky , and the moon illuminated the path home . The chirping sound of crickets that hid in the bushes and the slow footsteps echoing through the pavement would make people shiver in fear . Max dragged his footsteps along , ignoring the fact that something might be lurking in the dark . It was very unusual , way past his curfew and he was still walking in the dark pavements of San Francisco , California , alone , despite his fear of the dark . Max looked down at his shoes , back slumped , carrying his heavy backpack , on his way home . But none of that bothered him , as he was occupied thinking about something that happened and really bothered him .
Max Martin , a fourteen-year-old boy who , by looking at his name might seem very responsible and mature . Maybe what was bothering him was just not getting an A in English . But names can be misleading , and you shouldn ’ t judge a book by its cover . Max is a very mischievous boy who has got into trouble plenty of times . Failing most of his subjects was not the worst , as he would get into detention almost every day . Of course , he was never on his teachers ’ favorites list . But it did not matter to him , as nothing angered him more than being treated unfairly . And that was only part of what happened in school .
Soon enough , he was home . Slamming the door closed , he walked past his mom without even greeting her . It was like he was the only one home . He ran into his room , and collapsed on his bed . As he closed his eyes , he had a flashback of what happened .
“ Max J . Martin ! How dare you ! You are an insult to the school ! I ’ ve had enough of you !” screamed his teacher , arms akimbo and face flushed red .
He thought he had been seeing things , but it seemed like his arch-nemesis , Bianca , had tried to kill him . She opened her mouth and it was full of fangs . Her neatly painted nails grew longer , with a skull painted on it , and was sharp as blades . She hissed wickedly like a snake . She pounced on him , but he dodged and punched her in the face . Bianca turned back to normal , complaining to the teacher . The teacher , reprimanded Max without even letting him explain what had happened .
“ Woah , what had happened in there , Max ?” questioned his best friend , Zack B . Junior , as they left the classroom . “ Yeah , it was like Bianca was in a trance ,” added his other best friend , Sam W . Jackson . As Max , Zack and Sam walked home together , they had encountered a spirit of some sort , who had told the three friends that they had been chosen and needed to go to China and find the missing scriptures . They would encounter someone who would help them along the way . After the spirit disappeared , the friends were puzzled all thinking that they must have been hallucinating or just seeing things . They split ways to go to their homes . Max didn ’ t know if he believed it , but he wasn ’ t sure what he was going to do .
A week later , it was the time for their immersions . They were supposed to select where they would go , but Max ’ s mom selected for him , so he didn ’ t know which country he was going to . The teachers announced the results , and coincidently , Max was going to China , along with Zack and Sam .
On their day of arrival in China , they had met a girl called , Xuan . She was the group ’ s tour guide . She seemed very shy , but smart and informative at the same time .
On the third day of the trip , the group of four had been separated from the rest of the students when they were visiting the museum . They were lost , and could not find their way back to join the rest of the group . They had stumbled across an isolated section of the museum .
“ Oh my ! This is beautiful !” exclaimed Zack as he looked at a display called , “ The Scriptures of
China ”. “ The scriptures used to be in the museum in Beijing , but the curators had gotten permission to display it , which used to be an impossible feat ,” said Xuan .
The name had ringed a bell in Max ’ s head . He did not know what , and that kept bothering him . Finally he got it ! It was something about the missing scriptures that the spirit had told them about . He had a strong feeling that this was the missing scriptures . He then told Zack and Sam who also had the same feeling . The boys decided to steal the script back to California , where they had met the spirit .