Fiction: Group 2
The Secret of the Pearl River Delta
Macau Anglican College, Murugaperumal, Veda - 10, Fiction: Group 2
here were two girls named Kate and Lucy. They were sisters and lived in England.
School was over! Summer vacation had begun. Every kid hopped out of their seats and ran through
the corridors, jumping with excitement. Whereas, Kate and Lucy, groaned and shuffled out of the
school gates, as they didn’t have any plans for the vacation.
They both went back home and surprisingly saw that their mum was eagerly waiting for them. Immediately,
she said, “I have got some exciting news for you two.” “What is it?” groaned Kate and Lucy. “We are
going to China for the vacation,” she replied. Kate and Lucy jumped with excitement. “So we are going to
visit the Great Wall of China,” asked Kate eagerly. Her mother said “Well, no but we are going to visit the
Pearl River Delta, we will stay in cabins near it, so you better start packing.” They both groaned and went
to their room to pack their stuff. Then Kate said to Lucy “What is so exciting about the Pearl River Delta
anyway?”
After reaching the Pearl River Delta, their mum suggested many things to do. However, Kate and Lucy
decided to search for sea shells near the shore of Pearl River. They got a bucket, a shovel, and a backpack
full of tools for searching seashells. They were searching for a while but only found a couple of seashells.
Then they both spotted a coral blue seashell floating in the river. It wasn’t that far from the shore, so they
started swimming towards it. But suddenly out of nowhere, a huge whirlpool appeared and tried to suck
them in. They shouted “Help!” but no one could hear them. Then everything went black.
When they got up, they were in a dark ore cave. Then suddenly a skeleton fell from the ceiling and landed
on Kate’s face. Out of panic, she screamed “Ahhhh!” and pushed it away. They saw that the skeleton was
holding a sign. The sign said, “Trigger the traps and you may pass.” Then Kate accidently dropped her
bracelet few tiles in the front. Suddenly spikes rose up from the floor and pierced the bracelet, sending beads
flying everywhere. This triggered a many things. Spikes were coming out of the ceilings and the walls.
Arrows were shooting in all directions and at one point lava was flowing from the ceiling. Luckily, Kate and
Lucy didn’t get hurt as they stood a few steps back. After all the destruction happened a clear platform
formed in front of them. They walked forward to see what was to happen next.
Then, they entered a room which was pretty empty, except the candles lit up all around. Suddenly, two
sphinxes appeared in front of their eyes and said “Riddle me this riddle me that who is likely to disturb our
nap.” “Well we just want to go home, so can we pass?” stammered Kate. The first sphinx said, “Ok only if
you answer three simple riddles.” Before they could answer, the sphinxes pointed at the floor and quicksand
appeared. It was slowly sinking Kate and Lucy. They panicked and tried to escape but failed. Then the
second sphinx smiled and said, “If you answer three riddles, the quicksand will disappear and you may pass.”
“The first riddle is: when I am small I walk on four legs, when I am an adult I walk on two legs and when I
am old I walk on three legs, who am I?” It was easy for Kate and Lucy, together they shouted, “It’s a
human.” “That’s correct,” said the sphinxes. “Here is the next riddle: I can stand on four legs and even on
three, but not on two or one, who am I?” It was harder this time, the quicksand was up to their chests then
Kate answered, “It is a chair.” The sphinxes nodded their heads and asked the final riddle, “I am of different
colors and when I am bright and standing tall I grow shorter, who am I?” This time they had no clue and
were drowning in quicksand a lot faster. The quick sand got up to their shoulders and Lucy pretty much
gave up hope that they would come out alive. Kate was saying loads of possible answers but she got them all
wrong. Then Lucy spotted the candles. When they entered the room the candles were very big but now
they were short. Then Lucy knew the answer, “It’s a candle,” Lucy hollered. The two sphinxes snapped
their fingers and all the sand suddenly disappeared. Then the sphinxes said, “You have finished the task, your
final task is in the next room.” So they went on to see what was going to happen next.
The last room was bigger than the one with the sphinxes. The room had a volcano in the corner. In the
middle of the room was a small wooden stool. Then suddenly a man appeared on the stool. He had green
scales around his face and a peg leg. He also wore a pearl shaped like a tear drop around his neck. After a
while, he finally looked at Kate and Lucy. “Oh look visitors!” he hissed. “What is the final challenge and
how can we get back home,” Lucy said with fear. “Well the challenge is to win me at a sword fight and get
the Pearl River pearl from my neck,” he said. “Once you win the match and get the pearl, I will tell you
the secret of the pearl and transport you back home,” he said. Then he threw two swords to Kate and Lucy.
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