Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 205

“Isn’t she still sleeping? Let me check...” I ran over to Mei’s bed and threw her sheets on the floor, but, Mei
wasn’t there.
I rushed to the toilet and pushed its door open, but in Mei’s place was only the pungent smell of vomit.
Mei had disappeared.
A few days passed and soon, the ship was starting its sail again. However, Mei was still missing.
“Hua, I’m suffocating in here. I’m going out to have some fresh air.” I opened the door and immediately,
slammed into something hard and bulky.
“Going somewhere?” A voiced asked. I looked up and blanched at the sight of the man’s scarred and hairy
face.
“I... I...” I was frozen with fear.
“We were just going to take in some fresh air from the deck. Would you mind moving out of our way?”
Luckily, Hua came to my rescue.
The man sneered at us and said, “And why would I do that? I ain’t stupid. Nobody’s escaping on my watch.
Mei just got lucky.” Then, I was pushed roughly back into my room and the door slammed shut.
Realisation struck like lightning.
“She escaped. Mei escaped! I can’t believe she abandoned us like that!”
I looked at Hua for her reaction but I could see nothing but a tiny hint of guilt and relief. “Hua, what’s
going on?” I asked, my suspicions confirmed as she lowered her eyes to the floor.
“Hua, you knew? And you didn’t tell me?” I demanded, making Hua flinch at my harsh voice.
“She was going to die of seasickness, I had to help her escape!” Hua replied, gesturing for me to lower my
voice.
I stomped towards her and grabbed both her shoulders tightly. “We could have all escaped, now we won’t
have the chance to do that!”
Hua argued, “No, we wouldn’t have. Mei only escaped because we provided the distraction. I told you to
wear that ridiculous dress with me so everyone would be too busy looking at us to realise that Mei had
slipped into the ranks of the sailors.”
“I want to escape too, but I have my family to think of as well. This position as a gift to foreigners is not
given to anybody and if we don’t behave or please the foreign kings, we will be punished for disobedience
to our king. Our families could also be dragged into this mess, and I have five sisters and seven brothers... I
cannot afford to fail this mission.” Hua was dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief and I felt awful for
yelling at her.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” I said.
After a short while, Hua responded.
“I apologise for not informing you as well.”
We both knew arguing wouldn’t get us anywhere.