How the World was Saved
Yew Chung International School , Dufour , Stanley – 9
W
ake up ! We ’ re leaving !” a voice screeched in my ear .
“ What ’ s wrong ? I ’ m trying to sleep .” Shaking me was my cousin Enlui , who looked exited . “ Have you forgotten ,” snorted Enlui , rolling her eyes , “ It ’ s time to leave . Our flight to Beijing is in exactly two hours and forty seven minutes .” he yawned , and tossed me my backpack . “ But it ’ s Midnigh- ” “ I know . Not my problem . You ’ re lucky we let you sleep one hour more . I woke at eleven . Enlui skipped out of the room , softly singing . The trip to Beijing ! How could I forget ? I grabbed all the things I needed and was about to stuff them into my backpack when I realized everything was already in the bag . Outside , my sister , cousin , and parents were waiting . I hopped onto the car . Hengsha island rushed by , Changxing island was getting closer . We weren ’ t very far into Changxing when the car stopped , then turned around and speeded towards Hengsha island again . Before I found out what was happening , a drop of water bopped me on the head . Outside , there was water everywhere . People were alerted and screaming , “ The Yangtze river is flooding ! Run ! Shelter !” A huge wave crashed the bridge connecting Changxing and Hengsha .
“ Great ,” murmured dad , “ We ’ re done for .” he sulked and squeezed out of the car . Everyone else did the same . I thought I saw a tall , buff man clutching a sword walking on the water but he disappeared before I could get a good look at him . My sister frowned , “ Did you see that man walking on the river ?” Everyone shook their heads , except for me . “ I did .” I whispered to her . She shrugged and followed everyone else , who were running around in circles , thinking of something to do . I was lagging behind . Suddenly , a wave swished between me and my family . When the wave cleared , I was on the other side of the island . There was nobody . The flood was most dangerous here than anywhere else . “ Ouch !” a small voice whimpered . My sister crawled out from behind a rock . She gazed at the water . “ I think this is Penglai . The mountain in Chinese mythology , where the nine immortals are .” Now , in the myths , there are only eight immortals . But long , long ago , there were nine . The spirit of the
Yangtze , Yang Tan , used to be the god of the Yangtze river . He was responsible for all the flood from the Yantze . I walked down the road , followed by my sister . A beautiful palace was laid out in front of us . “ Hey ! Little humans ! What are you doing here in the palace of immortals ?” The same man that was walking on the river marched out of the palace . It was Yang Tan , the spirit of the
Yangtze . “ I don ’ t know ,” answered my sister , “ We just found ourselves here for no particular reason .” “ Well i ’ m doing something important , I am stirring up a flood . It ’ s been forty seven years since i ’ ve made a flood .” Yang Tan said firmly . It was true . The last time Shenzhen flooded it was forty seven years ago . The immortal reached into his pocket and picked up a sphere . Yang Tan then started to rub the sphere until it showed an image of the city . I saw my family running , they were cornered . “ If this crazy flood doesn ’ t stop in one hour ,” I muttered , “ Our family dies .” The god put back the sphere and took out three potions . He raised up a red one , “ These are my three flooding potions . My first one , the weakest one is red . A drop of this potion drops in the sea , a flood starts .” Then he raised a purple bottle , “ Ah , and this is to stop floods .”