Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 77

The Tale of a Hero
Diocesan Girls' Junior School, Chan, Ki Yi Charlotte - 10
The stinging pain shot up my leg in seconds like a raging fire, my brain was shutting down, my body went
numb. “Am I going to die?” I cried, fighting for every breath. Strangely, I felt very tired. I collapsed and
closed my eyes, letting darkness claim me…
“Hello!” an ear-splitting noise woke me. “Who are you?” I asked, half-closing my eyes, slowly adjusting
to the rays of sunlight that blinded my eyes. When I could finally see clearly, I found myself in a totally
different environment. I was in a big room made mostly of dark wood, it was almost like a stable. The
smell of fresh hay filled my large, soft nose. Standing in front of me, was another giraffe. He was tall and
slender, his fur was of a rich and striking coppery yellowish colour, his body was covered in splotches of
tawny spots. “What’s your name?” I asked. “Jeff,” the giraffe replied. Just then, a human walked into the
room. He was dressed in a colourful purple robe with intricate details on it. “He’s Zheng He, the captain
of this fleet.” Jeff whispered in my ear. He then escorted Zheng He out of the room and to my surprise, I
overhead them talking. “So, when are you going to include me into your great list of heroes? Well, I think
you better do so as it was because of me that you have been able to travel to Africa and captured that other
giraffe.” Jeff said, in an arrogant tone. “I’ll think about that later…” replied Zheng He rather shortly. ‘That
other giraffe’ - were they referring to me? I was very confused. How could Jeff betray his own species and
help a human to capture me from my homeland? Anger raged through my body and I furiously lifted my leg
to kick open the door to the stable and ran to a quiet corner in front of the ship, hiding, waiting for a
chance to escape.
Then, that very night, someone accidently dropped a smoking pipe. Sparks and the strong odor of
smoke immediately filled the front of the main ship. I was petrified, I couldn’t move a muscle, I glanced up
at the sky, the once clear blue sky was shielded by a thick wall of darkness. Then, as if the condition wasn’t
bad enough, the wind blew and encouraged the fire to kill everything unlucky enough to be caught by it.
The air was hot. The deadly flames started growing at an alarming rate and in no time, it became a wall of
flames with a fierce serpent that seemed to be gaining on me. I started to run, running so fast that I thought
my legs were going to explode any second. My lungs ached, cold air bit my lungs and my breath came in
short gasps, the ground beneath me blurred. Though I was exhausted, I kept on forcing my legs to push
harder on the ground. Images of Jeff flashed into my brain, I knew I had to save him too. Even though Jeff
wasn’t really much of a friend, he did not deserve to die. I screamed like crazy to attract other people’s
attention as the ship was so big that some of the crew members hadn’t even noticed that the ship was on
fire. In the corner of my eye, I saw Zheng He bolt out of his room, pulling Jeff behind him. He was
staring straight ahead, mouth half-open and face deadly white. It was the fact that Jeff’s face showed no hint
of shock that surprised me. As soon as Zheng He recovered from his shock, he began giving orders to the
crew.” I want everyone to gather buckets of water and aim it at the fire NOW!”
Sadly though, it was no use, the flames devoured the main ship in minutes. The crew had to
abandon the ship. As all of the crew members wanted to be the first to aboard the smaller ships sailing
alongside, they kicked, pushed and screamed and made the ship deck much more crowded than it had been
before. Just then, somewhere in the crowd came a blood-curding scream, it was Jeff, he had fallen into the
water. Without giving much thought, I immediately jumped into the icy cold water to save Jeff, not
remembering that I could not swim either like any other giraffe. I caught Jeff in the leg, and he managed to
splutter out “I-I’m sorry! I-I shouldn’t have f-f-frightened the sailor to cause this accident. I thought I
could then s-s-save the ship like a h-h-hero so people would r-r-remember me. Yet, y-y-your s-s-
selflessness to save me t-taught m-me what a t-t-true hero i-i-is…” Jeff said, swallowing more and more
seawater. Jeff was drowning, he had used the last of his energy to tell me the truth. I was shocked, so
shocked that I forgot that I was drowning too. Then, a few strong arms lifted me to the small ship with
Zheng He and his crew. I had lost Jeff… I glanced back at the burning ship, I watched as the fire greedily
devoured everything that proved Jeff’s existence.
I was still overwhelmed with sadness and depression when I saw a scroll drifting in the sea. I bent
down and picked it up with my mouth. When I looked closer, my body trembled as I realized with a shock
that the giraffe in the painting was Jeff! The slender body and the golden fur were unmistakable, it had to be
Jeff. A strange thought came to my mind. Maybe there was something I could do to help Jeff to fulfill his
last wish --to be remembered by everyone. I secretly hid the scroll among the other treasures in the ship…
The year 2018…
“Mom, did you see that painting of a giraffe from the Ming treasure voyages?” a girl pointing to the wall of
an exhibition in the museum...