Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 91

Alive
Dulwich College Beijing, Carmichael, Lili - 10
As soon as Arrow woke, his friend came rushing into his room and shouted, “Arrow, Arrow, it’s Saturday!
It’s hong dou bao, your favourite!”
“Oh, yeah! You know me, Lotus, always forgetting about things. Even, about my favourite- red bean
buns,” said Arrow, lying back down “But just give me a few more minutes...”
“C’mon, out of bed, sleepy head. Otherwise there’ll be no more left!” she said, before swiftly leaving the
room. He groaned but got up. Once dressed, he slid the carved, cherry-wood door open and walked to the
food counter. Arrow poured some herbal tea and shoved mounds of red bean filled buns on to his plate.
Wolfing down his breakfast, Lotus sat down next to him as captain Zheng He came into the room. “The
head of the boat is falling off. We need... You!” he announced, pointing at Arrow, “Go please our guide
with our precious melted gold, let him continue with us on our journey to Burma.”
“Yes, Captain,” replied Arrow as he put his plate away. He scurried off to the gold room and was out of
sight in a second.
As he approached the head of the boat, gold-filled bucket in hand, he thought about it. The head of the
boat truly was a head. A tourmaline green, ruby-eyed dragon head. Hand carved and carefully painted, it
was genuinely a master piece, and nobody wanted it to fall into the ocean as it was their guide of their
journey to Burma. It, of course, had a name, Fei Teng. It meant ebullience- bubbling enthusiasm. Of
course, it gave them ebullience; there was a rumor that said it was blessed to protect.
Finally, he got to the dragon head and slowly started pouring the shimmering gold into the crack between
the head and the boat. Even though the gold was already turning solid, Arrow heard a cracking sound that
seemed to be coming from the head. That’s weird, thought Arrow, the gold is hardening right before my
eyes-. Without warning, the head gave one last crack and fell into the never-ending sea. An emerald green
blur shot up from the ocean and into the silver clouds. Dumbstruck and speechless, Arrow gaped and stared
at the sky. Panicking franticly, he tried to calm himself down and thought, this is only a dream. Go to bed
and everything will be just fine. With shallow breathing, he headed towards his room and slid into bed.
When Arrow awoke, he almost had a heart attack. The head of an emerald green dragon with ruby red eyes
poked into Arrow’s room, staring at him with eager eyes. He jerked up and slowly, got out of bed, breathed
heavily and never took his eyes off the magical creature. Eventually, he approached the dragon. Breathing
deeply, he carefully lifted his hand and placed it on the dragon’s head and softly stroked its scaly head. It was
surprisingly calm and seemed to be relaxed...until Arrow heard footsteps. Thinking of an excuse, he spun
around to see Lotus gaping at Arrow and the dragon. She pointed her finger at them and stuttered,
“You...i-it...d-d-dragon...” Arrow put a finger on his lips and whispered, “I-its head was just poking in,”
“O-Okay. W-what are w-w-we going to d-do about it?” stammered Lotus.
“Let’s tell the story teller, o-or the captai-”
“No! L-lets j-just take it t-to the story teller,”
Silently, the children slipped past the dragon and dashed to the Story Room, where infants sat around an
elderly man with a long, silver beard. “Sir, come quick!” Lotus and Arrow said in unison.
Back in Arrow’s cabin, the man rubbed his chin as he stared at the now sleeping dragon. “Mm... yes...you,
are a special young man,” he said
Arrow gazed at him, “Me?! How?”
“You were chosen by the gods; very lucky you are. They chose you to be the Controller.”
“Me!?” he repeated as Lotus gazed at him, “But I’m just a messenger and cleaner. I’m just me! ”
“Yes, exactly. You will know how to control Fei Teng, it will come naturally to you. I will inform Zheng
He,” the old man said and very slowly left them. About ten years later, the man was finally out of earshot.
“This dragon,” Arrow said, pointing at the dragon, who was still sound asleep, “Is Fei Teng? The head of
the boat? ” He recalled the green blur, the same colour of the alive dragon.
“ I s-suppose so, knowing the story teller is very wise,” replied Lotus.
They glanced at the dragon and decided Arrow should try to be the Controller. In the first attempt, Arrow
fell off the creature’s back when he tried to get on. In the second attempt, he managed to sit without falling.
The next thing to do was to get out of the hallway, but it miraculously came with ease. At first he felt an
energy coming from the beast, silver and gold line swishing around them until, suddenly, they were out on
the deck. Okay, now for the dreaded part-flying, thought Arrow. There were antennae like things with