Old City of Shanghai
Harrow International School Hong Kong , Stevenson , Emily – 11
T his is a story about my adventure . My name is Scarlet Jane Stevenson . I am fifteen years old now but my amazing adventure started when I had just turned a teenager .
I was with my mum when it happened - we were on a rusty old aeroplane and we were on our way to Shanghai . A few hours had passed in that old plane . Then all of a sudden , we felt a bump . Then we were plummeting . Fast . The last thing that I can remember in the plane is my wonderful mum shouting desperately , “ Find it , return it !’’. That was the last time I ever saw her .
The next thing I remember is waking up in a small , dusty house . It was pitch black outside but I could make out curving , pointed roofs with lots of shouting street sellers mingling beneath them . But nothing at that moment made any sense , I was confused . I had so many questions but before I could find any answers , the dusty door slowly opened and a tall man came in with a huge piece of cloth on his head , dragging a little old lady roughly behind him . He glanced threateningly at me and threw the poor lady to the ground and bellowed to her loudly , “ You will stay there !”. Then he left with his cloth on his head and with his big boots stomping down the steps , locking the door behind him .
A few seconds later , the old lady spotted me and struggled to speak and I only just managed to hear her whisper to me , “ Find the Phoenix of Hope then all evil will disappear .’’. The old lady took one more shallow breath and closed her eyes . She died right in front of me .
An hour later and I was still thinking about what the old lady had said to me . In a desperate attempt to make sense of what had happened , I started to look around . The books on the wooden bookshelf were very dusty and ancient . Imagine my surprise when I pulled out one of the books and , almost instantly , a door appeared in the wall in front of me ! But then everything else so far had been very strange .
So I slowly opened the door to find a big street in front of me . There were very few people outside and there were lots of small street stalls . I started to walk hesitantly , not knowing where I was going and missing my mum . I got to the corner of the street when I saw a bright neon sign that said “ Old Shanghai Museum ”.
The museum was open so I walked inside to find a shattered and empty glass display case with a sign saying “ Phoenix of Hope ”. It was gone . Then I remembered what the old lady had said to me earlier in the day .
I was shellshocked . Did she really mean for me to find the Phoenix and what evil did she say would go away ? Then I heard a voice almost as if the wall was talking to me and it uttered , “ Go back to the forbidden house , take the Phoenix from the Evil One ’ s head . Be careful , you have been warned !”. Numb and paralysed with fear I stood there .
Before I could move , a voice chilled me to the bone . It was the same man who had killed the little old lady and the one who had locked me up . He had entered the museum and was talking to some other people so I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could and hid behind a beautiful porcelain vase . I heard him order , “ Clear up the glass and put a replica in . In twenty four hours I will be the master of evil . Keep an eye out for the girl , she escaped through the secret door . I fear that she knows too much .’’.
I cowered behind the vase until I was sure the Evil One and his men had left the museum . I desperately wanted to feel the comfort of my mum ’ s arms but I knew I had a very important job to complete . Was I up to the task ?
The once bustling streets of Shanghai were now empty and eerily quiet as I stuck to the shadows and crept away from the Museum , back to the house of my imprisonment . I peeped in a window to see the Evil One sleeping and snoring on a chair inside , still with the cloth on his head , concealing as I knew now the Phoenix of Hope . Now was my only chance . I knew what I had to do . I silently crawled on the rock hard floor until i reached the mahogany door . But it was locked . So I took out the pin out of my hair . Shaking I put the pin in the lock and fiddled around until the door had opened . I peeped my head out off the door to find the evil master still sleeping on the chair so I went on my tiptoe and silently and cautiously ran to towards the chair . On the way I could see many paintings of old people . When I got to the chair my hand was trembling with anxiety . I reach out and one of his eyes opened . My heart was in my mouth .