Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 304

Hours and hours flew past, as the lone figure sat at the desk drinking in every single word the journal had to
offer, learning about the voyages documented in the journal, the adventures experienced, until the first rays
of sunlight began to trickle into the room, at the edges of the windows. Soon, the library was awash with
the light of dawn. He blinked at the light, for his eyes had started to water a little, and he stood up and
stretched, a small but confident smile adorning his face.
From this memoir, he noticed that the anonymous sailor had started off with searching for basic needs like
food and survival, then to building up a brotherhood, to cultivating self-worth, and eventually reckoning
the importance of achieving the greater good. He understood that forfeiting his narrow-mindedness is a
must by overlooking his current difficulties, and most of all, actualize the dream of mankind. Gone was the
weary and hopeless man from midnight; in his place was a man clearly inspired by the unnamed man’s
journal clutched tightly in his hands, eyes gleaming with enlightenment and brain abuzz with ideas.
With a spring in his step, the man swept out of the library of the University of Madrid, determined to seek
for funding from the Spanish Court, and to make his dreams of navigation a reality.
He had only expected to reach East Asia; yet, he had discovered a world entirely new—one could almost say
that without the Ming Treasure Voyages, the one to discover America would not be Christopher Columbus
himself.