All Tied Up
Shanghai Singapore International School , Ho , Jerriel - 15
T he yellow beams of the streetlights glistened alongside the radiant moon , illuminating the invading darkness of the Shanghai night . Silence fell upon the city ; the faint chirping of the crickets filled the air . The shrubs were being blown about , swaying in the light breeze .
There was a sudden thud ; the numbness of my body was replaced with the tingling sensation running through my back . It was as if I was being thrown onto a metal surface . My head hurt and I couldn ’ t think straight … where was I ? I could not remember anything that had happened . I felt restricted ; I fumbled my hands and legs about , only to find that they were bound together . I lay there … helpless . I brushed across the sides with my fingers ; there was some fabric … canvas . So this is how those little grains of rice feel being crammed together in a sack . Thoughts of why I was being tied in a rice sack started racing through my mind . My fear of small spaces did not help at all . I started to feel claustrophobic , my head began to hurt again , my body reeked with sweat and my hands shook in nervousness .
There was a jerk ; I felt the surface below me beginning to move . There was a rumble and a growl , like the sounds of a truck revving its engine . Rattling and screeches of dragging metal disturbed the peace of the silent night . The noise was coming from next to me , it sounded like a loose metal bumper dragging along on the road , trying its best to keep up with the speed of the vehicle . The rattling sound of tools knocking about in the truck bed . I tried once more to wriggle myself free , but to no avail . In fact , it felt as if the ropes were tightening around my skin even more as I moved . All this while , I was busy trying to free myself from the bindings around my limbs , that I have forgotten that my mouth was free . I began to shout ; I didn ’ t bother to think before shouting , screaming out whatever that had come to my mind first . Ugh ! I felt a sudden beat to the gut ; it was a kick , a really hard kick , followed by a command to stay quiet . He shouted something in Chinese , his voice , deep and rough . It was dark , I couldn ’ t see him but I roughly guessed he was a big-sized man with muscular arms . He sounded like a guy you wouldn ’ t want to have any troubles with , unless your aim was to break a few of your bones . “ Why am I here ?” I asked with all my courage , hoping to get an answer . The only answer I received was another kick to the stomach . I wasn ’ t the toughest guy with the greatest tolerance for pain , no , I was just a wimp ; weak , frail and undersized , a kick to the stomach felt like a bullet flying through my body , exiting the other way .
Ten minutes passed and I was still laying on the cold metal surface of the truck bed , arms and legs tied up and kept in a rice sack . As I was just about to give up and go to sleep , it stopped . The wind gushing through the tiny gaps between the stitches too came to a standstill . Fear took over me as I anxiously waited for something to happen . I could hear muffled voices in the background . The voices slowly neared me and became clearer , however , not being able to understand Chinese , the voices sounded like gibberish to me . I felt something press against my body , like two hands , as I was being rolled on my left side . One moment I was being rolled on the surface and the next , falling mid-air and then hitting the ground . Suddenly , a gush of white light blinded my eyes . The rope holding the sack I was shoved in was cut open . I could barely open my eyes as they struggled to focus . It took a long thirty-seconds for my sight to finally return . I was sitting lying on the ground , a single light bulb swinging around above me and two men , armed with metal pipes , standing across from me .
I stood up and looked around , the place seemed familiar . I looked down on the floor below me ; it was tiled with a huge circular logo in the middle of the entire complex . The logo looked familiar , “ Russo-Chinese Bank ” it read on the top on the symbol . Why was I brought here ? Why would they kidnap me and take me to a bank ? In a flash , everything came back to me . I knew why they brought me here ! My name is Roy Caden , head manager of the Russo-Chinese Bank . The only reason they would have brought me here would be to get me to