Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 238

The tension between them became more and more intense, until I felt I had to say something.
“We are not stealing. We are just trying to live; it’s not like they are short of the little things we’re
taking.” I told Sister, “Plus, that man is just ridiculous! He called us filthy! Can you believe that? Us filthy?
We wash everyday!” A slight smile appeared on Sister’s face.
Brother sat down, staring at the ground intently. Suddenly he shot up and a candle seemed to light
up in him. “Hey, remember our cousins at the next village Xiao Mei, Ya Ya and the others? I know they
were starving like us. There’s so much food in that one building, there would be enough for us and our
cousins! Xiao Mei and Ya Ya can bring their families here. How can these men take all the food from the
countryside and hide it in this one building?” He spoke fervently.
Looking at Sister, “Sister, with more of us, we would not need to be afraid.” At that, she nodded
her head.
“Brother, you know the way back. Straight on the road we came. Get our cousins, Sister and I will
explore this area to make sure there are no dangers. Be careful, see you soon.” I said to Brother as he
nodded his head, turned around, walked to the end of the gutter and sprung up.
Feeling brave, I bounded onto the top of the gutter and ventured to the edge of the dock.
There was water as far as I can see. Straining my neck forward, I looked further up into the cloudy
mist; there were mountains on the other side. The side of the mountain had some trees, although most of it
was already cut bare. Docks, and even more docks were on the left. I turned my entire body around to face
the right. Even more docks continued on the right. How many docks were there? As many as I had fingers
and toes! There were massive structures being built upon each dock, with curved bows and a flat deck, nine
majestic beams extraordinarily tall that soared straight towards the sky, I cannot see the ends. The beams
were more than 40 men high! Ah, those must be formed from the tall trees cut down on the mountain side!
Some had fabric attached to them that fluttered in the wind. Leaning against the curved bows were wooden
logs at an acute angle, holding up the structures, so they would not tip over. At the front of them were four
menacing dragon eyes. Two at the front and two on the lower sides. I was astonished by the enormity.
Some of them had three or four stories built upon the flat decks, the body was two hundred men long, each
were even longer than the buildings combined behind me! Holding my breath, I sighed in disbelief.
Sister joined me and gazed at the constructions dumbfounded. “What are those things?”, asked
Sister while she peered at the massive structures. My eyes followed the horizon line behind the wooden
bows and saw the expanse of water. Many such structures that were on the docks, were already on the
water! They floated, and I can see thousands of men on the decks running to and fro.
“I think they’re called… ships!”
Many men surrounded one of the ships on a dock. They were excited. Slanted platforms were slid
under the wooden bow on one side. With loud yells, men hammered away the logs supporting the vessel,
and with a loud splash it dropped into water; one side even submerged a bit before resurfacing. Men cheered
and the ship was secured, then a plank was laid from the dock to it, creating a bridge.
On the dock next to us, lines of men, burdened with sacks upon their backs struggled onto the
large curved ships. Some of the men stumbled under the weight of their sacks.
“Look, aren’t those men from our village?” Proclaimed Sister. Watching the direction she looked
at, I saw familiar men dragging sacks. They were the ones who used to work at the fields – this is where the
village men went to!