Fiction: Group 2
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Canadian International School of Hong Kong, Roberts, Sarah - 10, Fiction: Group 2
s Britney looked to her right, all she saw was a busy yet murky and polluted river.
The waves of
the river created moving shadows that match the grey clouds in the aqua blue sky.
“This is the
Pearl River, one of Guangzhou’s main tourist attractions!” stated the lazy tour guide.
“Time is up!
We need to go to the Chang Long International Circus.
Everyone hop on the bus,”
bellowed the tour guide strictly.
Britney took one last look at the river.
What she noticed was styrofoam
takeaway boxes, lots of plastic bags, plastic bottles and layers of dark black chemicals floating on the surface
of the Pearl River.
After glancing over her shoulder, she quickly got on the bus.
“Everyone, time to get off the bus.
We are here and if we don’t get off, we’ll be late!” roared the tour
guide.
Everyone got off the bus and went into the theatre.
Britney enjoyed the marvellous acts but the
entire time something had been bothering her.
She found out that it was all the polluted water in the
river.
“Bye everyone, see you soon.
My rest day is every other day.
There is a bus going back, I will not
be taking it!” announced the tour guide happily.
Britney got on the bus and couldn’t stop thinking about
the river.
After twenty minutes she got off the bus and walked around town to find a little restaurant.
Britney sat down at a high stool by the Dim Sum conveyor belt, which was in a restaurant across the
road from the cosy hotel she was staying in.
“Hello, my name is Pei Ri.
I come from a small village
north of Guangzhou.
I work in a shoe factory by the river,” exclaimed the cheerful girl who was sitting
beside Britney.
“Hello, my name is Britney and I come from Canada,” squeaked Britney.
Britney
squeaked because her Mandarin was not very good.
Then suddenly they started blurting out bad things
about the pollution in the Pearl River.
Later that night Britney and Pei Ri decided to do a river clean up in two days’ time.
So they went to
Pei Ri’s apartment to make some banners.
The banners were used to advertise the clean-up they were
doing and that anyone could join.
Within the next twenty minutes they had finished making and
decorating three banners to attract attention.
The signs read “Come and join us to restore Pearl River to
its original state.
Meet by the dock of the river at twelve o’clock on January tenth.”
The words were bold
and were painted in bright colours such as blue, green and red.
They decided where to hang up the
banners and to meet the next day.
The next day Britney and Pei Ri got up, had a small breakfast and then met in Canton Tower’s
lobby.
Pei Ri got there thirty minutes before Britney.
During that time, she kept on asking herself -
“Did Britney forget?” “Did I say tomorrow or later today?”
Suddenly Britney came running in while
screaming about why she was so late.
Pei Ri was getting extremely furious with Britney, however,
Britney had a very good reason.
After that, they took the lift to the rooftop of Canton Tower.
When
they got there, they tied the banner to the safety fences on the roof.
As soon as they finished, they went
down to the lobby and swiftly walked to the Pearl River Delta main viewing point and they hung another
banner there.
After hanging it, Britney and Pei Ri went to the factory that Pei Ri worked at and hung the
last banner on the outer wall of the factory.
Two days later at precisely twelve o’clock, the two of girls and many other people were at the Pearl
River dock.
The enormous group waited for others to arrive and then Britney and Pei Ri announced the
instructions.
After that, Britney and Pei Ri handed out buckets and plastic bags to collect the
rubbish.
Everybody split up into groups and each group went on a boat.
Four days later, they had
restored the Pearl River to how it looked a decade ago – crystal clear, sweet smelling and marine green.
And that was how The Recycling Team was formed and how it became famous all over the world!
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