Fiction: Group 2
A Tree, A Shadow And Three Deeds
Clearwater Bay School, Tyson, Kayla - 11, Fiction: Group 2
ave you ever had that feeling when you think someone is watching you, but then you turn
around and no one
is there? Well that
is how Mei-Lin feels. Mei-Lin lives in Guangzhou
situated on the Pearl River Delta with her family of 4, her mum, dad, grandma and herself. They
don’t have a lot of money therefore they live in a tiny house and she has to share a room with her grandma.
Everyone eats together and she helps to cook the delicious food. They have a variety of food each day.
Sometimes its fried rice or dumplings but it’s usually steamed fish. They buy fish from the market because
it’s so cheap and they live around the Pearl River Delta.
Each day their family cycles down the track towards the temple to pray and wish. The temple is a very large
place and because she has been there so many times she knows every corner there is. Everyone in the village
goes there to make a wish from the wishing tree (which is right in the center of the temple) although not all
the wishes get granted. The tree only grants wishes that it thinks are important. The way it works is that
everyone lines up and when one person comes out, the other goes in. It works like that because when you
wish, the tree sometimes responds and no one else is allowed to hear it.
Mei-Lin has always been suspicious about the temple because she always feels wind blowing past her.
Whenever she turns around, she gets this weird feeling that she can see someone’s shadow lurking behind
some statues as if trying to watch her.
“Mei-Lin, Mei-Lin it’s time to help me with the incense sticks!” her mum shouted across the room.
“SSSHHH!” hissed the security guard.
“Sorry,” her mum whispered.
Mei-Lin loves helping her mum with the incense sticks. Over the years the smoke has stained the clean
white walls, so they are as black as the deepest cave, except for one part. That part isn’t black because the
smoke can’t get anywhere near that patch. When she walked up to it she saw a rather strange black figure
jump in front of the patch. The figure was moving very slowly, and it looked like it was alive! It also looked
like a crooked old lady with a walking stick and she knew it had to be the shadow. Mei-Lin even thought
for a second it was her grandma and she knew it was possible.
Ever since yesterday, she has been following the shadow around, and the shadow had been taking her to the
tree every day, but Mei-Lin didn’t know why! She just kept walking away from the tree but the shadow
was constantly taking her back. She spent a lot of time thinking about it until one morning when she
thought the shadow might be taking her there all the time to make an important wish. She thought the
shadow might've wanted the wish to be to free her grandma. So that’s what she did.
The next day when Mei-Lin went to the temple, she asked the tree to be able to free her grandma and
immediately the tree responded.
“Do you remember the story of why I trapped your grandmother?” the tree bellowed in a deep voice.
“Only briefly,” I replied politely.
“Then I shall tell you again. The reason I trapped her was because she wanted all of my wishes for herself so
she tried to cut me down but I trapped her just in time and she is still inside me now.”
And as he spoke he opened up and her grandma slowly walked out. Immediately I ran to help her because
she could barely walk, even her walking stick couldn’t help. At first she stumbled, it was like watching a
baby walk there first steps. Then the tree started talking.
H
