Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 381

New Journeys to the West
The International Schools Foundation Academy, Lo, Brandon - 13
I
t was an evening in El Bayadh, and a man walked across the open fields. His name was Hagel, a poor
shepherd in his 30s. He had finished a day out with his 6 sheep, who he loved greatly, as they were his
only companions.
Every day, Hagel would bring the sheep out to the open fields where he would let them wander
around, letting them eat all they want. Although he lived a stable life, having no particular threats, he was
still determined to find out what life would be like if he were in better living conditions. He was interested
in what he would be able to have if he was wealthier, and therefore took the risk of traveling to a new land
for a better life.
After winter was gone and the temperature went back up, Hagel decided that it was about time
that he set off. He headed off without any particular plan, given that he did not know how to read maps and
didn't know the world well enough. All he could do was walk around and hope for the best.
It was starting to get dark, and Hagel thought it would be wise if he started to look for a place to
stay overnight. He found a little shed, urged all his sheep in and went to sleep.
One day has passed. And another. Yet another.
A week has passed, and Hagel was already sick of walking hours and hours every day, and
constantly sleeping without shelter didn't make his days any better. He had been keeping all his sheep
together by tying them up by the tree with a few lengths of rope he found lying around, and he felt grateful
that they were there. He felt like the luckiest man alive.
All of a sudden Hagel caught a glimpse of a town in the distance, abandoning his thoughts. The
sheep seemed to see it too, and altogether they ran as fast as they could to the buildings in the distance.
He did eventually get there, and as he walked around the city, he caught a lot of attention, as you
would expect because he did have 6 sheep tied to a rope following him, after all. The stench of dried sweat
weeks old did not help, either. Eventually, he found an abandoned house he could stay in overnight. He
hurried all his sheep inside and went to sleep. That was another day gone.
The next morning he woke up, ready to leave. He tied his sheep back together and took off to
another day of traveling. Just as he was about to leave the village, he spotted a homeless man sitting on the
sidewalk. He was curious, so started a conversation with the man. His name was Janco, and he had been
homeless for as long as he could remember.
"What do you do during the day?" Hagel asked.
"Just sit around, maybe taking a nice stroll around town when I feel like it," Janco replied.
After getting to know each other a little bit, Hagel decided to take Janco on the journey with him,
because maybe he would need a bit of help at some point. They spent another night in the shelter.
After checking that Hagel was asleep, Janco crept out of the shed and met up with his group of
friends on the other side of the town, discussing an evil-sounding plan for Janco to gain Hagel's trust.
The next day, after a few minutes of walking, Hagel and Janco met a "gang". They were threatened
that if everything they had was not given, they would be tortured and killed. All Hagel had with him were
his sheep, which he didn't want to lose, but he was also sure that after he was killed, his sheep would be the
next victims anyway. Janco, on the other hand, had nothing to lose, and suddenly lashed out and slapped a
gang member in the face. The rest of the gang members close in on Janco, but he knocks them all
unconscious, leaving Hagel in surprise. Hagel couldn't thank Janco enough, but Janco simply shrugged it off.
"Could've beat twice as many opponents just as easily," he said.
Now Hagel truly felt that Janco was no ordinary friend, but a trustworthy, helpful friend. He
promised his new friend that he would get half of the goods he could receive.
Two months later, after trekking desserts, hiking mountains and eventually crossing the Strait of
Gibraltar, they finally got to Madrid, the capital of Spain. All the wide buildings, all the cars, all the light
coming out of windows. Everything was so different from Algeria, and the duo cruised around the streets,
taking everything in. Eventually, a family kindly asked them if they needed help or if they were looking for
anything, and they said they wanted to see someone who could give them a better life. The mom pointed
towards a faraway but special looking building, saying it was the residence of the king. A mansion even
when compared to the ordinary Spanish residence, Hagel and Janco couldn't imagine how the whole house
belonged to one person and his family. As they walked up to the house, a pair of guards stopped them.