Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 1-2 | Page 403

Journey to the East
Quarry Bay School, Miller, Maxwell – 9
“P
igsy! Why’d you eat that pork! We’re taking rations! Also, you’re part pig! And PIGS DON’T
EAT PIGS!”
Pigsy just stared at Monkey King. He had never seen him so mad.
“You’re just a ration devouring, blob with ears and a tail,” sneered the Monkey King, sinking into battle
stance. “You have now crossed the line between being responsible and irresponsible!” shrieked the ruler.
“AND NOW YOU DIE!” He was already fed up with Pigsy’s laziness, always eating, and even sleeping till
noon, but that was the last straw. And with that Monkey King surged forward, swinging his staff above his
head so fast it was rendered invisible to Pigsy. But then, it could just be his lazy eyes acting up again. Tang
reached out his hand seeing Monkey King’s attempt on Pigsy’s life. Instantly the titanium band around the
king’s head shrunk a considerable amount. Within a second, he was on the ground whimpering.
“Enough! Both of you. It’s hard enough trying to return the scrolls of wisdom back to the east without us
bickering amongst ourselves!” said Tang with a calm, but threatening tone. He finally released the grip on
the monkey’s band, and they continued their tiring trek through the woods. None of them spoke for the
next minute or so.
‘It’s getting dark, we need our rest,” announced Tang. The others nodded in agreement and they each
scrambled around doing their evening duties. Monkey King’s duty was to be on guard for thieves, demons,
or any other threats. If he did spot a potential nemesis, he’d shout and they’d all spring to their guard and
ward off whatever had come too close: Tang using his communication skills, Monkey King using his staff,
and Pigsy using his trusted rake (Tang always had to carry it for him till they came across danger). Monkey
King and Tang would take guard shifts through the night. When thinking this through, they both decided it
was best to leave Pigsy to his rest unless it was a total emergency.
Pigsy’s duty was to collect enough leaves and vines so that they could all sleep in comfort. And Tang’s job
was to make a makeshift shelter for the night.
The next morning, all of them rose early, with the exception of Pigsy. It took the combined efforts of the
Monkey King and Tang to wake him up and continue on with their journey. According to their map, they
were most of the way to the Temple of Wisdom, where they would deliver the scrolls of wisdom.
Monkey King decided to just practise fighting skills rather than excite himself. He pulled out his staff from
his ear and concentrated on the feeling of the long shaft of heavenly wood resting in his hand. Then he
slowly started to feel the staff growing larger and larger until it was a good size. Slightly taller than himself.
And with that he swung into a defensive stance and imagined a Demon of Lightning standing there. It
immediately appeared before him. The Monkey King was confused, since it usually took a couple of seconds
before figures would appear in his mind. He decided it was just him getting smarter than he already was, and
with an almighty jump, he swung the staff at the lightning demon that he had imagined. He closed his eyes
as he imagined the strike connect and the demon stumbling backwards in confusion. But the staff master
then noticed something peculiar, for he needn’t imagine the blow. When he opened his eyes, there was an
actual Demon of Lightning with electric blue filled eyeballs and a pale skin colour, scowling at him with an
unspeakable amount of rage glowing in his eyes.
The Demon of Lightning looked down maliciously at the monkey dressed in red robes, before drawing a
staff of his own. This one though, was glowing an electric blue, which matched his devil eyes. Then
without a verbal command, they charged at each other.
***