Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 35

New Tales of the Ming Voyage
Carmel School Association Elsa High School, Yu, Clarissa - 15
Standing at the grave of his stillborn child, Nopadon bent down a gingerly placed a bouquet of lilies onto the mossy
rock the size of a newborn kitten. He stood back up and gazed at the rock as if his child was going to magically appear.
She was his ‘second’ child and today was her anniversary. The first was a miscarriage, they were 5 months into the
pregnancy when it occurred. Both his wife, Khajee and him were ecstatic to have a product of their love, as most new
parents do. Thus, when they discovered they had a miscarriage, they were determined to try again.
It was not long before the second child was conceived. With more experience, the pair were more careful and after 9
months, she was ready to give birth. Nopadon was not allowed to participate and observe the process of the birth so he
waited outside of the hospital for a lengthy 14 hours. Nopadon could only hear Khajee struggling and the doctor
attempting to help his wife.
It was dusk when their child was born. Nopadon remembered everything on that fatal day. The sky was a mix between
pink and orange, with hues of blue and purple mixed into the sunset. He fondly recalls how he thought nothing, not
even a rainy day can dampen his mood when the doctor broke the news to him.
Two weeks, a total of 14 days after that fateful day, Khajee was still in a melancholy mood. She blamed herself for
Duangkamol, her stillborn. It was all her fault. It has happened again and again. Twice. She gave false hope to Nopadon
twice. That was twice too many, in her opinion. She loved him dearly and knew what a child meant to him. She could
only hope that someday she could bear a child that could repair the damage.
Consumed by his thoughts of what the stillborn could have been, it was not apparent to him that nighttime had
appeared. Suddenly, he realized that the sun had gone into hiding and the moon replaced the sun in its position.
Nopadon slowly walked back to his home, passing by various sizes of rocks, which indicated the age of the deceased.
The larger the rocks are, the older the person was. The oldest person to ever live was a man by the name of Punyaa, he
lived all the way up to 31 years old.
It was raining all night long and turned to a slight drizzle in the morning. Nopadon was visiting his cousin, Chakrii by
the docks when it happened. Hundreds of boats slowly docked on their already crowded deck. There were more people
on the ships then the civilian population in this village of Siam.
On this very day, the calm and quiet village was disturbed. On the ship, there were captains commanding their sailors,
navigators communicating with each other animatedly, doctors treating crew members that are injured and many more.
The busy and sophisticated ships strongly juxtapose the village.
The boat was greater than any infrastructure the villagers have ever seen. Words spread fast in the minuscule village and
by noon, almost all of the villagers were crowded around the vessel. The chief of the village attempted to display a
nonchalant expression upon discovering the arrival of these explorers.
Any sane person would marvel at these enormous ships. Their sails were a deep blood red, which contrasted with the
emerald green exterior. There were at least nine sails in each of the boats, with one at the front and one at the back.
Their sails reflected the very essence of Chinese culture, with bamboo connecting every few inches of the sail, making it
easier to control and manipulate in order to use the wind to their full advantage.
Every crew member on the boat seemed to know exactly what had to be done, like clockwork, they operated smoothly
and without any delays. Every person on the hundreds of vessels had their own role which they performed
meticulously.
A man named Zheng He was in charge of the ships. They have traveled to numerous villages before this specific one. In
each one of them, they offered treasures from China and stayed for a week while they loaded more supplies onto their
boats. This one was no different.