Historical Pages of Shanghai
Shanghai Singapore International School , Wong , Edith - 11
E
rin ! Time for dinner !” “ Yes , mum .” Erin Campbell groaned as she closed the book Ancient Shanghai . Slowly , she dragged herself to the bathroom to wash her hands . “ What were you reading again ? New book ?” Erin ’ s father asked as soon as Erin sat down at the dinner table . “ Yes , it is .” Erin murmured as she started to stuff food into her mouth , trying to finish the dinner as fast as possible and continued to read the book . After dinner , Erin went back in her room . Her twin sister , Eleanor Campbell , followed her and said , “ Don ’ t you notice something weird about your new book ?” Eleanor delicately touched the book Ancient Shanghai with her index finger . “ Nope .” Erin replied , stacking up her other books . “ What ’ s wrong with it ?” “ It looks so old . Do you think the book is magical or something ?” Eleanor asked again , but with a whisper this time . “ You might be right . Let ’ s check it out !” Erin said excitedly . “ Okay , I don ’ t think I was serious about it .” Eleanor said , but Erin was already flipping the pages furiously , hoping to find something magical in the book . Suddenly , the pages started to glow . “ Move back , Eleanor . I want to … !” Erin yelled . Then she somehow got sucked into the book . Eleanor immediately followed her . “ Where is this ?” Erin asked herself . “ AAAAAAHHHHH !” Eleanor fell on top of Erin . “ Eleanor , I told you not to follow me .” Erin said grumpily . “ Well , what am I going to tell mom at dessert time ? Hi , mom ! Erin fell into a book . By the way , what ’ s for dessert ? Give me a break !” Eleanor replied , highly offended .
“ Let ’ s look at where we are before we start quarreling again ,” Erin instructed , picking up the book from the floor . The place was familiar to Erin . It was a whole bunch of white brick walls , but it looks like …. There was a road signage that read “ Avenue Joffre ” outside the window . A quiet , leafy street outside and inside of the room was cold brick walls , the guards , and … the uniform ! “ A portrait above the fireplace showed the name Charles de Montigny !” Eleanor realized . “ We ’ re in 1849 ! He is the French Consul to Shanghai . He is the one who established The French Concession in Shanghai .” Erin concluded quickly . “ I suppose so .” Eleanor grunted . “ Bonjour , sire !” An unfamiliar voice said . Eleanor and Erin hid behind a chest full of France ’ s treasures , but Erin accidentally dropped Ancient Shanghai . “ C ’ est ?” Another voice replied . Erin could see face of the French Consul , talking to a French soldier . “ We ’ re in the book !” Eleanor whispered . “ Wait , where ’ s the book ?” Eleanor turned around as one soldier picked the book up . The two men continued to have the conversation in French while Erin and Eleanor quietly tried to check out this French concession house while trying to find the book . But they stopped at the first room . Three soldiers were guarding the room , and one of them was holding it . “ What should we do ?” Erin whisper-shouted . “ The book is the only way of reaching back home !” “ I don ’ t know , okay ?” Eleanor answered in another whisper . An idea popped up into Eleanor ’ s head . She first scooted up closer to the soldiers and hid behind the wall . Then she whispered like an owl with a low voice . “ Hooooooooot -a – hoooot – toot .” Eleanor sang . The soldiers quickly scurried away and dropped the book Ancient Shanghai . Erin retrieved it as quickly as she can .
“ How did you do that ?” Erin asked with astonishment as soon as she got the book back . Eleanor winked at her .