Troubling Spirits of Cathay Theatre
Heep Yunn Primary School , Tan , Shi Le Charlotte – 10
T om ! WAKE UP ! It ’ s already seven thirty ! YOU ‘ RE EXTREMELY , UTTERLY , AWFULLY LATE !!!” screeched Mum . “ What ?” I rolled out of my bed , dashed into the shower , pulled on my uniform , grabbed my backpack and ran straight out of the door . I got ready for school in two minutes and nineteen seconds ! Which is probably a new late-for-school world record .
Erind was waiting for me impatiently , he rolled his eyes at me and said , “ If it wasn ’ t for “ Mr Sleeping Bug ” I wouldn ’ t be late .” He glared at me with icy blue eyes . I shrugged and just kept on walking .
We were walking pass the great Cathay Theatre when Erind sighed , “ It ’ s a pity we are not able to enter the theatre anymore as it has been cordoned off for demolition ”. all of a sudden , a scraping sound came behind us . I immediately turned around and found myself face to face with a strange looking wrinkled old man . He beckoned for us to come with him . There was something tempting about him that we tagged along unknowingly . We were led into the theatre ’ s secret room where there was a large sign on the front door stating - ‘ Off-limits for outsiders except for staff ’. Strange at first sight and flabbergasted when the old man opened the door to ten or twelve pair of bulging eyes staring at us . The old man responded quickly , “ Don ’ t be afraid ! These are ghost spirits dwelling here . They were once famous actors here but have since left the human world . They won ’ t do you any harm . All they need is your help .” Erind and I continued to stare at the old wrinkled man in awe . “ These ghost spirits know that Erind ’ s dad is the Mayor of Shanghai , so they asked me to look for both of you and lead you here . As you can see , the theatre will soon be demolished which means it will no longer exist . There will be no more dwelling place for these poor old ghost spirits ,” the old man said in sorrow . “ Yes , yes , there will be no more home … for us ,” the ghosts all wailed in despair . “ Do you think you can help us young man ?” “ I … I … I … will certainly do what I can to help ,” replied Erind . Erind and I immediately ran out of the theatre , grabbed a public phone and called his dad to explain about the happenings that just took place and persuaded him to quash the idea of demolishing the theatre . As Erind ’ s dad was astonished by our encounter , he agreed to reconsider and halted the demolishing plan until further notice .
When we got back to school , it was already lunch time . Our class teacher , Ms Hung demanded an explanation from us . After hearing our explanation , the teacher smiled . “ It ’ s good to know they are reconsidering the demolition of the Cathay Theatre because I have got a lot of good memories in there as well ,” said Ms Hung . Erind and I smiled , we were proud to have saved the great , Old Cathay Theatre of Shanghai .