Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 10

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
Buddhist Sin Tak College, Li, Ivan - 15
“There may be no returning…” A group of sailors prepared themselves for a great journey, a journey to explore the
seven seas, and to search for other nations and resources…
“Off we go!” pulling up the anchor, captain Zheng He (also known as Joe) said. The ship sailed right off into the
distance. The ship slowly faded into the far west seas.
Ian asked, “What do you guys think will happen next? Will we get a lot of treasure? Or will we die a horrible death?”
“Well, anything can happen, who knows? But one thing I DO know, is that we are going to blast through those
hiccups and everything will be smooth-sailing,” Linkon stressed confidently.
Sailing for a whole month, they were absolutely bored by the deadly dull and plain-o sea. Frank complained that it
seemed like a never-ending trip to absolutely nowhere. All of them were bored by the monotonous trip, except
Nathan. He kept looking through the telescope for land. Miraculously, he found an orange patch of arid land “Land!
Land!” he exclaimed in complete joy. Everybody woke up from their ocean of boredom. They turned the sail, and
travelled full speed ahead towards the foreign lands.
When they got closer, they could see some details of the landscape. They saw some kind of artificial structures. “I think
there is civilization there! There must be humans living there in order for these structures to be built!” said Linkon. The
ship docked on the shore. “I knew there were humans living here!” Linckon exclaimed. All the people living there
were all confused and surprised. However, there is still a problem: How would they communicate with each other?
How would they know if the natives understood them or not?
“We can draw!” suggested Ian.
Joe replied,’ Why not? Let’s try! ”
The natives seemed to know what the sailors were drawing. They took them to a structure in the shape of a pyramid
and they got to see the ruler of the land. They gave the ruler some goods, like the finest teas, silks and even gold. They
became great friends with the country - Egypt.
They set sail again and returned to China. The cartographer, Ian, drew a map of China and Egypt. A couple of years
later, they were given their fifth mission - the mission to trade with the Egyptians. So yet again, they set on sail.
But the weather was not compliant at all. Suddenly the sky darkened and the view became gloomy. As the rain started
to drop and the wind started to pick up. A thunderstorm approached! Hoo-Hoo..the wind was strengthening. The
waves became bigger, shaking their ship from left to right. Lightning struck right on the post of the sail. Fortunately it
didn’t catch fire as the rain and heavy waves distinguished it immediately. Everyone was frightened. They didn’t know
what to do. But the ferocious wind didn’t show any mercy. It kept blowing and destroyed one of the pillars. “The bow
is about to break! Nathan! Fix it!” Nathan was in utter horror. He was in a frenzy and put planks and wood everywhere
trying to fix it. They were lucky as Nathan frantically repaired the limp and loose planks in time.
As people always say bad things come in multiples. It’s true and not so soon after, the second atrocity happened. They
hadn’t even had time to calm down, when another ship came right towards them.
“Raiders!” Joe shouted, “Get the cannons ready! Quick!” They went back into “frenetic running mode” again. They
shot every cannon and fired every weapon they could. But they all missed. “Time to retreat I guess…” Ian said. They
turned the sail and even paddled to try to go back to the safe shores of China. They finally beached and the pirate
chased them. They kept running until the soldiers of Ming Dynasty arrived… They were saved…
On the seventh voyage they successfully found Serbia and other countries. Although they had faced a multitude of
obstacles and adversities, they managed to overcome and solve all the problems one by one. They helped other
countries. They made the Ming Dynasty the emperor of the seas. They unlocked the major trade routes through the
open oceans. They had done their jobs well as sailors. They created history…
“Where should we go next?”