Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 1 | Page 38

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voyages
Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Wong, John - 8
One day, I found myself on the bed of a ship. I looked around and found everything was made of
wood covered with antique Chinese silk. Then I looked at myself and I was shocked because I was dressed
like a Chinese admiral of ancient times. On the way to the deck, everyone bowed to me with great respect
and called me Admiral Chou. I grabbed one of my underlings and asked, ‘What year is it?’ He replied
looking oddly at me, ‘Sir, it is 1408!’
I was directed to the main cabin by Lieutenant Cheng. All the commanders and generals looked
worried and they were discussing about the attempt of the pirate ship approaching us quickly. One of the
generals told me we had lots of golden jewels, precious hand-made silk and lots of porcelain and china in
the treasure chamber and they were gifts for the Japan Royal Family from the Yongle Emperor. Our mission
for this voyage was to bring those treasures across the East China Sea and deliver them to Yokohama port.
While we were planning our defence strategy, suddenly, a pirate cannon shot at our control tower.
Then, the pirates started boarding the front deck and a big fight started. Our front team was hit badly so I
asked everyone else to gather around the middle and started shooting back with our full strength at them.
However, they were much more skilled and well planned, therefore, most of our crew members got killed
and I needed to retreat to the emergency chamber. I heard them banging the doors, searching around and
around, but they didn’t seem to find the treasure chamber.
Suddenly, I saw a beam of light shining through the door and someone opening it – “BOOM! I
found him!” said one of the pirates. They had caught me.
Their captain ordered a few strong men to tie me up, splashed me with cold water, whipped me
with spikes and hit my head with an iron-made pistol. They also threatened to kill me with a sword if I
didn’t tell them where the entrance to the treasure chamber was. I was cold, scared and helpless, hoping my
mom and dad were here with me to get me out of this mess.
Out of nowhere, I started feeling a warm stream of blood pumping out from my heart flowing
through my body. I could also feel a pair of gigantic hands grabbing my arms, shaking me and then I felt
totally dizzy. I closed my eyes wishing everything would be go away quickly. When I opened my eyes, I
saw a big round chubby face right in front of me. “Dad!” I shouted.
I was overjoyed to find myself lying in my bed within a close distance to my mom and dad.
However, big trouble was ahead of me because it was already nine o’clock in the morning and I was very
late for school. When I jumped off the bed, I saw a bunch of my medals that I treasure a lot, lying at the
corner of my bed. Then I asked myself: was it a dream or did someone really try to find my treasures last
night?