The Hike of the Double Ninth Festival

Angela Y., 8, St. Paul Co-Ed

1)     It is a beautiful day. The sun is shining, and you have the day off from school, so you and your friends decide to go on a hike. How do you get to the mountain? What do you see on the journey there?

When you look at the mountain from far away, you’ll see a brown cap of farmland at the very top so it looks like it’s wearing a hat.

2)     As you approach the mountain, you and your friends realize that it is extremely tall. Fill in the blanks to use similes in order to describe it.

The mountain is as large as a dwarf planet.

The mountain is as green as jade.

The mountain is as tall as a giant.

3)     After an hour of hiking, you stop to eat lunch and enjoy the views. What do you see? How does it feel to be so high up, away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong Island?

Everything feels soothing and quiet, as if Gaia (the goddess of Mother Nature) is near. Nature is unique in its own way.

4)     You and your friends start to see dark clouds form above. Suddenly it is pouring, and you don’t have umbrellas. It is too dangerous to run down to the bottom of the mountain. Describe in detail what you do.

We get tot eh inner paths, avoiding busy areas. Just the roaring thunder told us that we were about seven thousand miles from it.

5)     One of your friends calls everyone over. He has found a small cave in the mountain where you can avoid the rainstorm. Inside the cave, you lean on a rock. When you do this, a tiny door opens, leading to a tunnel inside the mountain. How do you feel? What do you do?

We all felt excited thinking that there is some treasure hidden in it waiting for us to find. Curiously, we enter the tunnel.

6)     After careful deliberation, one of your friends pulls out a torch, and you and your friends decide to enter the tunnel. What is it like inside? Use all five senses to describe what you see and feel.

We see an almost endless winding flight of stairs. Feeling the banister, we go down slowly. Somehow, a smell reminds me of breakfast. Treats are hung on the wall. I gave them a lick…mmmm…Music came from below.

7)     As you descend into the tunnel, you hear strange noises echoing ahead of you in the dark. How does this make you feel? Despite some fear, you decide to keep exploring further. Why do you do this?

Some feeling down my back tells me that I have to keep going because I think the bottom of the stairs is an exit.

8)     Finish the story! Write at least ten lines describing what you find at the end of the tunnel and how the story ends. Be as creative as possible!

        I ran to the bottom of the stairs in no time. I saw a huge button and pressed it. An armchair appeared. After I sat on it, it felt like the world was never going to stop spinning. I was going down, down, down…

        Suddenly, I fell with a thud. My friends fell after me. We had landed in the parking lot where I had parked my car. We were relieved to see that the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. We all went home and became better friends after that.