Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 1 | Page 35

Chu Chu
Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Ching, Hayley - 7
In ancient China, when the Ming Dynasty was as strong as ever, there was a little boy called Chu Chu who
was living in Nanjing, one of the biggest cities in the Dynasty. He dreamed of becoming a pirate and he
wanted to sail a boat to the ocean. One day, he asked his parents, “Can we go to the ocean?”. His parents
said, “Of course not! There will be sharks jumping around trying to eat you! It is so dangerous.’ Chu Chu
was very disappointed and so he sneaked out during the night.
On his way to the ocean, he met some pirates. “May I join your group? I can help you cook a delicious
meal” Chu said. The head of pirates replied “Of course not! We will not let a seven year old boy cook for
us. It won’t taste good!”. “I’m nine years old, not seven, you silly pirate!” Chu yelled back. The chief felt
insulted and was very angry, so he swiped his sword at him. He caught Chu Chu and put him into a prison
cell in his pirate ship.
Chu Chu was locked in the cell for almost a year. He only knew the ship was sailing but not its destination.
One day, there was a lot of shouting and yelling inside the pirate ship. A group of soldiers suddenly appeared
and rescued him. The pirates were all caught. The soldiers brought Chu Chu to their leader.
“I’m Zheng He, the leader of the soldiers who just rescued you. We are travelling around the world!”
Zheng said. “We can only take you home after we finish travelling, and it might take a few years”.
“Alright. May I travel with you then?” Chu Chu asked. “Sure, but you have to listen to me” Zheng replied.
So, Zheng continued the voyage with Chu Chu. They travelled all over the oceans and explored different
countries. Chu Chu was very excited at first but he began to get bored, and so was not able to help with
anything. One day he asked Zheng, “May I help you with something?”.
“Perhaps you could play a Chinese game with the local children, so they wil know more about our
culture?” answered Zheng.
Since then, Chu Chu had been playing with local children every day. He taught them how to play Chinese
chess and freestyle shuttlecock. He realised that he loved this job very much. Chu Chu had a great time and
enjoyed meeting different people and learning about different cultures. He travelled around Eastern China,
South East Asia, India and even to Arabia.
A few years later, Zheng finished the journey and went back to China. Chu Chu was taken back to his
home. His parents were so surprised and relieved, as they thought Chu Chu was dead. “Oh, honey, where
did you? You should tell us all that has happened” asked his mother.
“Well, I travelled all around the world. It was a fantastic journey” Chu Chu explained. His parents did not
believe him at all and they did not let him out of their sight again.