Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 302

I Tread Carefully…
Sha Tin College, Kwok, Hayley – 11
I
tread carefully on the creaking wooden bridge, merely suspended over the fast- flowing stream. In front of me stood
a large, grand palace. I walked towards it, quickly glancing up at it. It was grand and beautifully decorated.
Knock-knock- KNOCK. I knocked on the door.
“Hello?” I called inside. My voice echoed around the walls, making my voice sound far away. Without warning, a man
walked into the room. “Ni Hao,” the man said. He was tall and thin, and with him was a short boy about the age of 14. He
briefly nodded towards me.
“What are you here for?” the tall man said.
“I am here to speak to Zhang Wei, the emperor,” I replied.
“What is it you want to talk with the Huangdi?”, he asked me.
“I was going to discuss with him the building allotment of a new pagoda that is supposed to be overlooking the Huangpu
river,” I replied.
“Sorry, but Huangdi is out having lunch,” the tall man named Li told me.
Just when I needed to talk to him about the proposal of building a beautiful pagoda overlooking the Huangpu River. I was
about to sigh when Li spoke again.
“You can come back later if you like. I will try to contact the Huangdi now.”
He looks at Yuan meaningfully, who whipped out a little walkie- talkie. He pressed some different buttons. “I sent the
message to Huangdi and asked him to reply quickly because the client is here,” he told Li.
Li turned to me. “Would you like to stay here and wait or come back later?”, he asked me
“I’ll stay, then,” I told him. He nodded his head towards the open double doors. The hallways were exquisitely decorated
with embossed mini Buddhas and temples made of jade. Talk about a royal palace!
A few minutes later, there came a loud knock on the door of the room we were in. The door promptly opened and a tall
man, embellished in all sorts of finery, came striding in grandly.
“Why are you looking for me?”, he asked Li. He merely glanced at me. “What is that person doing here?”, he demanded.
“She is the designer of the proposed temple to be facing t he Huangpu river,” Li replied. The Emperor frowned.
“Come with me,” the Emperor said.