Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 1-2 | Page 195

Skyfall
Discovery College Primary, Yuen, Hei Yan - 10
A
ray of sunlight hit my face as I stirred from my sleep. The sun rising from the horizon confirmed
the fact that it was finally morning. Me, my little brother and my parents were on our private jet to
India, for one of my dad’s many business trips.
As I raised my head from the chair that I was lounging on, there was a sudden jolt, and for a moment, it felt
like we were floating. I frowned. Was this some kind of turbulence? Shouldn't Dad have told us? He was
flying...right? Then a burning smell crept up my nostrils. “MOM! ALEX! DAD?” My brother’s faint
snoring sputtered to a stop. He groggily sat up from the two-seater in front of me and groaned. “Halley?”
Alex mumbled, rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes. “Why are you shouting?”
I started to panic. I scrambled down from my seat and burst into the cockpit. “Dad. What’s happening?” I
questioned him. He looked up from the plane controls and looked at me. “Evacuate. Now.” Dad looked at
Mom, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat with a panicked look in her eyes. “Get your life vest, dear.” She
said to me, her breathing rapidly quickening. My heart sprinted around my chest as I dug my life jacket out
from under my seat. I tugged it on and turned around, to see the escape slide protruding from under the
open emergency door. This was serious. Mom dragged Alex toward the exit, slapping his hand away when
he fiddled with his life vest. “M- Mom? What’s happening?” I stammered, fearing the answer. She avoided
my gaze and jumped as a loud BOOM erupted from the plane’s depths, shaking the oxygen out of us. “Slide
down with Alex. The sea is down there. Stay safe, Halley. We’ll be down soon.”
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The moment my legs hit the water, they went numb. A second later, Alex came down the inflated slide too,
squealing as the icy sea closed in on him. I looked up. We had fallen a few ten feet from the private jet.
There was no sign of Mom, or Dad. I bit my lip. From the freezing water, a spark of fire caught my eye. I
gasped. The plane wings were on fire! And… Alex seemed to have noticed too. “AHHHH! Carly, we’re all
going to die! Where’s Mom? Dad?” He flapped around in the water, splashing drops onto my face. I
grimaced. If Dad and Mom didn’t come down soon, Alex was going to have a seizure. Suddenly, Mom’s
feet, along with Dad’s, slipped into the water, drenching my clothes.
“Had a plane crash, did you?” A deep, calm voice drawled. I spun around, struggling a bit with my life vest.
There was no one there. “Hello?” Dad called. The water around us started shimmering and a monkey– yep,
a monkey- appeared out of nowhere, floating. He wore a small crown made out of what looked like solid
gold, with a red jewel in the center and a purple robe. The monkey stared at us with intelligent eyes.
“Greetings, my friends. I… am the Monkey King.”
“Wait, what?” I said, confused. “I’ve never heard of you before, have I?” The ‘Monkey King’ cocked his
head. “Not even in ‘Journey to the West’?”
Mom’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean that- you’re the Monkey King? She said, drawing in a breath.
Mom was a great reader, and ‘Journey to the West’ was one of her favorites. Because of that, I was very
familiar with the characters, and I couldn’t believe that we were meeting one right now!
“Well… yes. The belief in the book helped create me. So, here I am.” Monkey King spread his arms.
“Now, no more questions. I believe you need a bit of hospitality.” As if on cue, our plane exploded into
bits of debris overhead, sprinkling hot metal into the sea around us. I cringed. “Close your eyes, friends.
You’re in for a ride.” It all happened so fast. The Monkey King somehow teleported us onto a humongous
island, an island which he called home. It was like a paradise. There were caves surrounding the island, and
tiny beaches ringing the outside of them. Waterfalls cascaded down cliff sides down into lakes, and forests
blossomed above them. Monkeys of all shapes and sizes lumbered and jumped all over the vast piece of land.
“Welcome to my domain, Mr…”
“Taylor. David Taylor. This is my wife, Clara, and these are my children, Halley and Alex!” “Nice to meet
you, Taylors.” The Monkey King bowed his head. “ Come, this way. I have had my people prepare some