Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 1-2 | Page 164

Cheers could be heard and succulent smells wafted through the air as the voyagers stepped foot
onto the new land.. They were celebrated in the new land along with Mao Fei, as the conquerors of the
treacherous sea leech who had terrorised the location for a time immemorial. The voyageurs settled down
and hoped to establish a new community. However, they failed horribly. The crops were fine, but the new
settlers couldn’t overcome the lack of livestock. Also, restarting all over was a big problem for them since not
many knew how to organise an effective community while only having experienced growing and fishing.
After much conflict, there was only one solution to this problematic situation. They had to go back.
They had to pack their belongings, get back on the ship and set sail back to where they had started.
Maybe there was a chance that the emperor would honour their village by rewarding it with gold for the
enterprise of its youngsters in making the journey and they would then become national heroes throughout
the whole of China. Going back didn’t sound such a bad idea, right? All the villagers agreed on this and
started packing to go home. Little did they know that they had just set foot in what would much later
become America.
It felt like an eternity to sail back home. Everyone was excited about being able to tell the whole
country that they had found new land. When they finally reached their fishing village, they hopped off their
ship and set off to the palace to inform the emperor of the new lands they had discovered. The emperor was
very impressed , new land meant more power, he had to claim right of tribute from all new lands in order to
ensure his and China’s supremacy. He therefore ordered eight thousand men to set sail to establish this in the
new land. Mao Fei and the villagers received their reward, a box full of gold. But, Mao Fei stared wistfully at
the sea once again. He wanted to repeat his journey, he felt like there was something he had missed.
Mao Fei felt a shiver go down his spine like a lightning bolt, as realization and fear struck him
which commanded him to turn back and stare right into the eyes of a sea leech full of hatred.