Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 1 | Page 91

A Captain's Diary
Victoria Shanghai Academy, Chan, Alvyn - 8
Day 1
Today is a special day - We started the Ming treasure voyage. There were big boxes of treasure, food and
water everywhere. I’ve never seen so many boxes of treasure before!
We’re about to go on the most famous trip in the world!
Day 15
We’ve been sailing for 15 days but seen nothing. I felt worried.
Suddenly it got foggy and dark. The crew were scared and didn’t want to sail anymore. The General asked
me, captain Leung and a few brave sailors to continue on a small boat.
Day 20
The small boat was very shaky. We were tired and sick. Suddenly a storm came and blew us towards an
island … BOOM! We crashed into the island.
We lost our consciousness.
We woke up finding strange people staring at us. They had a yellow face, yellow beard, brown skin, and
white spots on their skin. “AHHH! Who are you?” I said, scared. They said something, but we couldn't
understand. They weren’t speaking Chinese.
These people seemed pretty nice: they helped us fix our boat. Tomorrow we will go back to tell the
General what we saw. I am excited.
Day 30
Today I led the fleet and returned to the island. The islanders saw me and welcomed us immediately. “Here
is some treasure. Thank you for helping us.” I said, handing over the treasure.
They happily took the treasure.
Day 31
Today we introduced our instrument Dizi (Chinese flute) to them. We also taught them how to play it. But
they weren't very good; they blew too hard.
Later, they introduced an interesting looking instrument to us: a didgeridoo. It is a big long hollow tube.
When they blew it, it sounded like a long and low boat horn. They played some songs with the instrument.
I never heard of such beautiful melodies.
Day 33
Today we introduced our food to them. We prepared some noodles, rice, and turtles. They drew some
symbols on a rock. I think it meant they liked our food. But they didn’t eat any turtles.
For dinner the islanders prepared kangaroo jerky, crocodile meat, and local plums. The plums were sour.
Chinese plums are sweeter.
My favourite was kangaroo jerky. It was chewier and juicer than pork jerky.
Day 35
Today we were preparing to go. I was sad to say goodbye because it was fun learning about their culture.
The general gave them a Dizi as a gesture of friendship.
Day 36
Today the general came and asked me if I would like to stay and be China’s ambassador to this island. I
said “Yes!” immediately. I was so excited!
The other person selected was captain Leung. “It’s going to be a fun three years!” I told captain Leung.
We planned to learn more about their culture and pass this information to people in China so that they
know the world is not just China; there are other places just as good as China.