Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 308

Ma He understood the king’s meaning. He shivered slightly due to horror. He was silent for a second so that
he could find the right way to reject the king.
“Well your Majesty, I’m afraid we don’t….”
“You don’t?” the king frowned.
“We are only a trade ship, you see…we don’t have items that help people to…punish others,” Ma He bit
his lip.
“Then you’re of no use to me! Guards! Arrest them!” The king roared suddenly, even shattering the glass he
was holding.
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“And then what happened?”a little girl looked excitedly at her father.
“And then… the king put the captain to sleep…” The father tucked the girl inside her blanket. “Just like
what I’m doing now… and so you should go to sleep, just like the captain!” The father kissed the giggling
girl’s forehead and turned off the lights.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Night, daddy!” The girl closed her eyes.
The father closed the door to the room. His eyes glinted with mischief.
“Ma He! How many times have I told you not to tell Audrey stories like this? She’ll have nightmares!”a
female voice whispered angrily to him.
“And just how many times have I told YOU , my name is Zhang He, the great traveler of the sea?” Zhang
He stared angrily at his ‘wife’.
“I know you love your job, but can’t you stop acting at home?”his wife said annoyingly, turned around and
turned off the lights.
It had been going on ever since her husband fainted in the studio. He claimed that he was Zhang He from
the Ming Dynasty, but she just thought he was joking. No one, except for Zhang, knew that the real Ma
He had already been ‘put to sleep’ by the Indian king, just like what Zhang He told the little girl.
And not just to sleep, but to eternal sleep.
Zhang He whispered a prayer to Ma He to apologize for making him the scapegoat.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I’ll take good care of your family for you.”