The Old City of Shanghai Rebuilt
American International School , Tse , Ki-Chun - 12
I
t was a horrific day . Cyclones were roaring , tempests were occurring , it was absolute chaos . Every person in The
Old City of Shanghai was curled up in their bed , hoping that the storm would stop . The tempest still carried on throughout the whole night . The whole city couldn ’ t even get a blink ! It finally stopped the next morning . They all went outside their dwelling and some of them fainted . Most of the buildings were destroyed ! It was the core of Shanghai and now it ’ s just piles of cement and bricks ! Some searched around to check if anyone got squashed last night . 10-15 people were injured and a few were killed . They all needed to go to the hospital to heal and to recover . A boy around 11 years old called Clay asked his parents , “ What are we gonna do ?” His parents replied , “ We don ’ t know . We ’ re not strong and fast enough to fix this city .” Clay thought for a moment . Then an idea popped into his head . He shouted , “ HMMM ... Oh ! You know how there ’ s a story about the ancient Jewel of Creation , the almighty gem that can create anything ? The one over the wall ?” His parents ; still confused , answered , “ Yeah , but no-one has ever survived the climb over the wall of Old
Shanghai before ,” said his father . Clay bravely replied , “ Not anymore . I ’ m gonna make it over that wall no matter what !” “ Are you sure ?” asked his mother . “ Well , I ’ m gonna pack lunch for you .’’ “ I ’ m gonna pack your bag ”, pronounced his father . “ Stay safe .” “ Ok , Mom and Dad .” Fifteen minutes later , he walked through the collapsed city , walking towards the wall of Old Shanghai . He received climbing equipment from shops that were still standing . He received a small , blue gem that the person who gave him the gem said ,” Keep it in your pocket . In desperate times , rub your hands on that gem .”
He didn ’ t believe it but he still kept it . Clay said his thank-yous and good-bye and then continue walking towards the mountainous wall . A few minutes later , he stood face-to-face with the gigantic wall . He gripped the wall with his hands and feet and started climbing over what looked like a hedge from a porcupine ’ s perspective . He felt his palms and legs scraping against the wall . Clay wondered how in the world he was going to get over this mountain-like-structure . For a moment , he regretted volunteering to save the Old City of Shanghai ... as a kid . So he decided to climb down , buy more some mountain climbing gear , and tried to climb again . By the time he bought all his equipment , he was famished ! Clay decided to eat his lunch before climbing .
This time , it was much easier for Clay , since he has a suit protecting his skin . He wore mittens to protect his hands and mountain boots to protect his feet . He prefered boots over sneakers . Finally , all of that baseball he played finally paid off . He somehow threw his mountain rope ( it had a huge rock attached to one end of the rope ) on the very summit of the wall and since the stone could hold his weight , he could get up the wall safely ! Soon , he clutched the rope , put his feet against the wall , and started walking on the wall . For a beginner , he was pretty good at wall climbing . Considering it ’ s his first time wall climbing , he was pretty skilled . However , that doesn ’ t mean that he ’ s a professional though .
Clay ’ s parents were at their broken-down house , terrified and hopeful that Clay will make it back . They marked down the days that he had been gone with concern for their son . ( even though they saw him this morning ) They spent the whole morning looking at photos of Clay just to calm themselves down . They tried to relax by shopping at the mall . They went to the mall to look through some clothes , purchase a few pair of shoes , maybe buy some extra pairs of underwear . Unfortunately , after all that shopping , it didn ’ t ease the fact that Clay was gone . They just went back home and took a nap . They just tried to ignore the fact that their son ’ s gone .
Clay almost passed out . He was close to the top of the wall with only a little bit of energy left . Then he saw something in the corner of the eye . To the right of him was a small ledge , but big enough for Clay to rest . He swung the rope left to right so that he could make it to the ledge . He placed his feet on the ledge and sat down on it , facing