Fiction: Group 3
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
International Christian Quality Music Secondary and Primary School (ICQM),
Kau, Min Xi - 13, Fiction: Group 3
he dragon danced away in the pale blue sky.
A tiny river ran under it, cutting across the barren earth. The dragon was the only one left,
and he played here every day until the cruel sun went down, just to keep the loneliness away.
Zhu tossed the pearl up high, and snaked up to catch it. Hot, dry wind ruffled his jade green beard,
scattering dust into his tangerine yellow scales. The pearl tumbled back onto his tongue, slipping along its
curvature.
Zhu landed neatly, sending up puffs of red dust. Rolling the pearl between claws, he slithered back
to his lair; his short legs carried him rather quickly. Zhu circled around his den, and ducked in, azure eyes
flashed in total darkness.
The pearl was neatly tucked into in between the thick coils of his body. The silence of the cave
lulled Zhu to boredom, then to sleep. But he wasn’t safe that yet.
The dragon is sleeping, but someone is wide awake out there. Leather sandals with feet in them
drummed across the sun-baked earth.
Lanterns swung in the half-light. The silhouettes printed faintly against the lair walls.
“
Zhè shì lóng de cháoxué?
” a little silhouette spoke in a language that Zhu knew.
Well… they think they are in my home. And they are. They want my pearl… but see if they can
get it.
Zhu thought, and realized that mortals from the nation had come.
Zhu rose silently, the jade green fur along his spine rippling. He listened to what the humans were
saying, translating the words naturally.
“Are you sure that we won’t die?” the small silhouette gave a small hoot.
“Silence.” the larger silhouette growled, “The dragon can be anywhere now.”
Zhu gave a toothy grin, yes, of course he could be anywhere now. And he was exactly behind the
mortals. He rolled the pearl smoothly under his palm, and allowed his azure eyes flash. The smaller mortal
immediately turned around, saw nothing and kept searching.
It was a game of dragon and prey.
Zhu let the lanterns swing some more, and Zhu tossed up the humans like they were pearls as well.
The small mortal screamed and waved his arms about frantically.
“The pearl!” roared the chief of the JiuZhai tribe, and began hacking away at the keratin on the
dragon’s head.
The vice chief gave one look at the huge glistening ball and scurried away. He couldn’t even lift it.
A set of serrated claws stamped the ground in front of him. The chief finally wrestled a way out of the horns
and dropped next to his companion.
“
Shuí d
ǎ
ng
ǎ
n dài z
ǒ
u w
ǒ
de lóngzh
ū
?
” Zhu roared, fangs bared and stained a glowing orange in
the dawn light.
“We know that you want to keep your pearl.” The chief mused, “But the tribes are dying and we
desperately need a lush Zhujiang. Though that would only work with your pearl.”
These humans are just plain stupid…
Zhu lunged forward, “Never!”
Claws of dragon met the sharp blade of the swords. The battle lasted till high noon, and the
unforgiving sun beat down on the two mortals. Zhu clutched his pearl tightly, hoping the sun would
eventually kill the mortals.
The dragon wound round and round into the eggshell blue sky, a dust storm trailing after his red
and gold tail.
“Where is the dragon?” Both men squinted through the flying bits of sand and other particles.
“Here he is!” snarled Zhu, famous last words.
The vice chief suddenly saw a long serpentine shape sail down, and held up a sword shakily. The
shadow of the plunging dragon darkening his expression. There was a grunt of pain as the blunt sword
snagged Zhu’s claws.
The pearl tumbled away, down the narrow cliffs and into the little stream. No sooner than the
pearl hit the water, the dragon turned to stone and crumbled into the river as well.
T
