Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 1-2 | Page 184

The New Adventures to the West
Diocesan Preparatory School, Au, Cheuk Kiu Kathleen – 10
L
ong, long time ago, a tribe of monkeys found a rock shaped like an egg. “What is it?” wondered the
monkeys. “Is it really an egg, or a coincidence that it is shaped like one?” Suddenly, the rock began
to shake. The monkeys ran to hide in different places as the rock exploded. After the dust had
cleared, the monkeys saw another monkey sitting on the ground. The monkeys made friends with the
newcomer and lived happily together.
One day, the new monkey heard continuous roaring coming from the waterfall near to his home. “What is
that sound?” he asked the monkeys.
“It is a monster,” they answered him, “who lives in the cave behind the waterfall. That was our home
once, but he stole it from us.” The new monkey felt sorry for them, and vowed to help them get their cave
back. So he went inside the cave and battled the monster. When he emerged from the waterfall, victorious,
the other monkeys cheered and named him their king.
One day, the Monkey King felt tired of his simple life, so he asked the monkeys what could make his life
more exciting. “You should go and try to be immortal,” suggested an old monkey. The Monkey King
approved of being immortal, and left to see what needed to be done to be immortal. He saw a man, sitting
on a rock as he started his journey. The Monkey King realised that he was an immortal, so he bowed to
him and said, “Master, what must I do to be immortal?”
The man bowed back to him and replied, “That I do not know. But I have been told to take you to the
Jade Emperor. He will give you the tasks to be immortal.” Then the man took his hand and the flowers
and bushed beside the Monkey King vanished to be replaced by golden pillars. He saw a tall, bearded man
seated on a gold throne adorned with carved images of dragons, and knew immediately that it was the Jade
Emperor.
He knelt down in a courtly bow, as the Emperor said, “I know it is your desire to become immortal. I will
give you two tasks and you must complete them with Roxie Foxy and Nesha. They will help you on your
journey.”
A mist settled on the three of them, and they heard the Emperor call out, “Go west. You will find out
more about the tasks there.” The Monkey King was on the mountain once again.
“So, what do we do now?”
“Go west,” said Roxie. “For that is where the Emperor commanded us to go. Oh, and I almost forgot.”
She rummaged around in her red satchel and drew out a golden needle. “Big!” cried Roxie, and the needle
grew to the height of Monkey King. “This is your weapon,” said Roxie, giving Monkey King the stick.
“This is the Golden Staff. It is able to shrink and grow to whatever size you want.”
“Do the two of you have weapons or powers or something?”
“We do,” said Ne Zha, nodding. “See, I have the Fire Wheels.”
“And I can shapeshift,” said Roxie. “Look at my last name, Foxy. That’s the animal I like most, and I have
the fox’s characteristics, too.” And so, the three of them continued to go west until they reached a signpost.
“Your first task is here.” Monkey King read out loud. “You must rescue the queen of this village. Then
you will have completed the first task. The queen is in the cave of the Minotaur.”
“I have a map,” said Roxie. “I also did some research. The Minotaur is a half-man, half-bull monster.
His head is a bull’s head, while his body is a man’s body.”
“We’re here,” said Monkey King. “The Minotaur’s Cave”