The Mysterious Steps on Our Campus

When you see a door, you may wonder what is behind it: a vintage-style study with antique wood carvings; a noble and luxurious master bedroom, or another mysterious door? Likewise, steps also exert a peculiar charm of the unknown. We occasionally catch sight of some steps on the campus, such as those alongside the path to Canteen Three; those in the corner of the sporting field, which are hidden in the woods leading to an unknown place, longing to be explored but gain no more than a glance from passers-by. Every time we go past in a rush heading for our respective destinations, but this time, I decided to hold up and give a full and detailed account of those steps – despite my starving stomach.

The Steps alongside the Path to Canteen Three

It was a thick, cluttered wood filled with a variety of shrubs and towering trees, in which a flight of brick steps was embedded. The grey colour of the concrete is too evident amonst this carpet of dark green.

I set foot on the steps and started meandering up the hill, until some tawny tiles came into my sight dimly amid the foliage: an arched door! Passing under the arch with a sense of entering into a mysterious zone, it was another flight of winding steps. Eventually, a large flat area seemed to mark the end of the steps, beyond which were some technicolor sports equipment, with a long stone corridor surrounding them.

Tawny Tiles of the Arched Door

Some Technicolor Sports Equipment

Apparently, this was a quiet and secret place for some reclusive students to study alone. When seeing the English slogan on the column, the reading sound seemed to echo through the corridor. What a great place! However, the dust on the benches, fallen leaves on the ground and weeds springing up indicated that very few people have been here.

Steps in the Corner of the Basketball Field

Before approaching the basketball field, I noticed some old backpackers were walking around in droves. On the hillside, the steps were not long, at the end of which you can see an opening in the wall.

Walking through the big gap in the boundarywall, there was a gentle slope surrounded by a tranquil green wood, through which birdsong faintly trickled in and out. At a distance, there was a small building, which turned out to be a ticket office for Baiyun Mountain! A sign post was standing right in front of the fence, from which we know that this path is the way to Plum Blossom Valley, Moxing Summit, Peach Blossom Brooklet, and so on.

A Road Sign

It turns out that the curiosity and the enthusiasm to find out new things is just breathtaking. Everyday we take the same path to the classroom, canteen and dormitory, feeling numb and tired of the beautiful scenes on our campus. At the same time, we pass the gateway to another totally different view a thousand times. So why not allow your curiosity to send you in new directions to add variety into your life? Still, there are a lot of things on our campus to be explored; just get close and reveal its mysterious veil to find out that real existence.

Are there more steps hidden on our campus?