Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 66

I forgot to tell you how he looked - he was quite handsome, with coal black hair but who knows why he got some
straps of blonde hair in between. He had ginger brown eyes and his skin colour was a bit tan, which seemed to have
been exposed in the sun for many times; he had a solemn look; he was fit yet muscular. I had a feeling that if he wanted
to be the Captain, then he would be a great rival of Captain Wang.
"Hey!" Zhengming interrupted the silence. "Let's go to get breakfast"
"Sure!"
There were already a few men serving breakfast. They gave me a bowl of congee with herbs on top, together with a
pack of peanuts and a glass of water.
Zhengming and I went to the upper deck and ate. We sat at the barrels and looked at the sea while eating.
The food was not good. The congee was watery. After I finished eating, my tummy still grumbled a little.
"You hungry still?" Asked Zhengming.
"Ya", I expected him to give me some of his food. No kidding, I really expected him to give me food, though it was a
selfish thought.
"You will get used to it" he said, "by the way, you cannot ask for more food."
I regurgitated the water in my mouth hard. I thought: you nasty Zhengmin.
I thought of going to the kitchen to steal some food to eat, but I gave in. I was afraid that I had to walk on the plank
and get fed by the sharks or had my head chopped by the Captain.
And so for the whole morning, it was a free period where we washed ourselves, changed clothes, and did leisure stuff. It
was a pretty dull morning and so I sat on the deck alone watching the seabirds fly. I spotted some dolphins too,
glimmering and sparkling under the sun. Wait, sparkling? Oh, right. Those weren’t dolphins, those were some other
creatures — mermaids. I really did saw some mermaids. They got a silvery and turquoise fin tail, with silvery hair too.
Swimming and diving elegantly and serenely at the sea. The ocean was so beautiful I believed I fell in love with it. I
desperately wanted to jump the deck now into the ocean.
“What are you looking at?” Asked Zhengming
I almost panicked as he suddenly popped out next to me.
“Mermaids.” I replied in a sulky voice.
“You still angry with me? Then you really behave like a kid, throwing tantrums for this teeny-tiny issue. What I am
saying is the truth you know. You must get used to these harsh conditions. If you cannot get used to them, then why
do you still want to be a sailor? A sailor is supposed to endure harsh conditions.”
I nodded in understanding.
“You said you just saw mermaids? But don’t mermaids not exist? “He asked.
“I really saw them. See!”
He gasped, admiring the beauty of the mermaids.
“You don’t believe in mythical creatures, right?” I asked.
“I tend not to believe in mythical creatures because that’s my family beliefs.”
“You have to believe that they really exist.” I said. “Maybe you will see sirens, the kraken, merpeople later.” I smirked.
“Why did you sign up to this voyage?” he asked again.
“I love the ocean.” I replied in an enthusiastic tone. “And I love adventures.”
“I love the ocean too. But another purpose was to earn money for my family, so I signed up to get money. My family is
poor and my father needs medical treatment but we don’t have…”
Lunch came. Nothing changed except that the nuts were replaced by an apple and two pieces of margarine. We then
started the weapons practice.
The Captain taught us how to hold swords and bows and how to use the cannon. Everyone tried the weapons a few
times and chose the weapons that they were good at.
Fun fact: I shot arrows to the ocean rather than the center of the wall. I couldn’t even lift a cannon ball. I even dropped
the sword while I was holding it. Great…
Meanwhile, Zhengming seemed to be good at every weapon. But with his size and strength, his best choice to show his
potential was the sword.
“Zhengming. Help me.” I couldn’t choose.
He told me to do it again, but those flaws kept repeating when I was doing it.
“Mmm…swords are better for you. I mean if you chose a sword then you could practice with me, right?”
Therefore, I tugged along with Zhengming and signed up for sword practice.
Since then, I have been swinging swords, fighting duels, poking and attacking. Of course, I was still not as good as
others. Anyway, I was the youngest among all sailors. Thankfully it made some sense that I wasn’t as good as others.
After the practices, we had to rest for a while and did the cleaning chores. We had to wipe the floor, polish the
weapons, and wash the clothes and kitchen tools. Chores, chores, chores...I think my fingers were callused.