New Journey to the West
Alliance Primary School , Kowloon Tong , Chui , Ying Massy - 10
I sabella had everything a girl could dream of . Her father was very rich and her mother was beautiful and cared a lot about her . Isabella was the light of the family as she was the only child . However , good times never last . When she was six years old , her mother gave birth to a new baby girl , called Isabel . From that day on , it seemed that her parents ONLY cared about her sister : they gave a larger room to her , they sang her lullabies but forgotten about Isabella ’ s bed time stories .
Christmas was around the corner . Ten-year-old Isabella was thinking hard , wondering what she would want for a present . She racked her brain but couldn ’ t come up with anything . So she opened a fairytale storybook , turned to pages and pages of colourful drawings . Until , something caught her eyes . There was an elegant white swan swimming gracefully along the river , a pair of feathered wings spread behind it . Now Isabella knew what she wanted for Christmas , she took out a pen , a piece of paper and began writing : Dear Santa , Merry Christmas ! Please may I have a swan ?
Best wishes ,
Isabella
Isabella put the piece of paper under the Christmas tree and laid some milk and cookies , then her servants asked her to go to bed . In the next morning , Isabella jumped out of bed and hurried downstairs to open her present . However , when she peeked inside her Christmas stocking , there was a terrible truth : it was empty ! Isabella was so shocked that she ran into her father ’ s room and woke him up . “ Father , why didn ’ t Santa give me a swan ?” she asked . “ My darling , I ’ m sorry , but I can ’ t give you a swan . Swans live in rivers but we live in the city ,” Father said . “ Ohh … Wait ! You mean ‘ Santa ’ is YOU ?” “ Umm … Yeah …” Isabella was a thoughtful girl , so she knew her father ’ s difficulties , but as she walked out the door , four- year-old Isabel came in . “ Father , thank you for the puppy you gave me . It ’ s perfect !” she exclaimed . Now Isabella was angry , “ I will have a swan , I WILL !” she shouted and stormed out of the room . “ Why Father could be so cruel to deny me a swan , instead he gave Isabel a puppy ? It ’ s so unfair !” she thought while she flounced away her house , to the forest . Soon she went to two roads , one had a word printed on the ground : WEST , another one had : NORTHWEST . “ Isabella ! Wait for me !” called Isabel , who had been chasing Isabella and finally caught up . They chose the road which had the word WEST . The two of them walked merrily along the path since the birds were chirping and the smell of flowers blooming was in the air . It made Isabella danced to her heart ’ s content . Suddenly , a gust of wind blew hardly , the birds flew away and the plants were swaying , they looked around and saw the West Wind . The West Wind spoke in Isabella ’ s ears , “ I love to pluck the leaves from the trees and see them dancing in the bright air , to watch a child dance would be so much better .” After that , he carried Isabella to his castle , leaving Isabel alone . From that day on , every evening the West Wind asked Isabella to dance for him . Her dancing was exquisite as her feet hardly seemed to touch the ground . Therefore , that pleased the West Wind a lot . One day , when Isabella was weeping at night because she couldn ’ t escape ( outside the castle there were hungry wolfs ), she heard a tapping noise from her window . It was Isabel ! Isabella was overjoyed . “ Come out ! Let ’ s go home ,” hissed Isabel . They walked for a while when the North Wind spotted them . Taking a fancy to the sister ’ s pretty face , he wanted to take them with him . Isabella and Isabel hid behind a big oak tree so he couldn ’ t find them . That was why the North Wind gave up and turned away . They hadn ’ t gone far away as the East Wind came towards them , but he wasn ’ t like his fearsome brother . He whispered softly in the two girl ’ s ears , “ Come with me … I will take you to a place where the sun always shines . Come with me … I will take you to a place where flowers always bloom . Come with me …” The sisters cover their ears then the East Wind couldn ’ t enchant them . Before long , he gave up and blew away .