Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 170

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voyages
Kau Yan School, Hau, Yuet Ching Jovia - 9
“Quick! Sailor Lee’s temperature is too high. Fill the tub with cool water and we need to soak him in!”
yelled Doctor Mak from the sick room.
Before I joined the Ming Treasure fleet, I had no idea what it would be like to sail for years. I was
a twelve years old boy who worked as an assistant to Doctor. Doctor Mak was a kind doctor, but he was
strict to me because he said, “Being a good doctor is about saving lives, you cannot afford to make mistake.”
I learned a lot from him and I wanted to be a doctor like him. Doctor Mak was called by the Emperor to
work on the ship, so I left my family and followed him.
The Ming Emperor sent a fleet of about 200 ships to visit different countries, to show his
friendliness to them. We brought along many precious treasures and helpful skills, to share with them. We
have different kinds of ships and people working here. We got ships for food, horses, weapons and most
importantly treasures. Different people like sailors, chefs, soldiers, doctors and any kind of people you could
name. It was like a moving city on the sea.
Days on the sea was very boring and tough. I was homesick and always sobbed at night in the
beginning. Things got better when I met some friends about my age. I would gather with friends after work.
We played card games and chatted about our adventures in different ships or horrible stories about pirates.
Bob, who was also an assistant to Doctor Mak, had been very kind to me. He shared the same bedroom
with me and would encourage me. “All your suffering now helps to build you into a better doctor in
future.” Bob was right, with his words in mind, I felt stronger to handle the difficulties better.
“Are you listening? Move faster to get cool water!” growled Doctor Mak.
“I really don’t get it, why do our Emperor send us to the howling sea? Before we send out our
kindness, we might all die. Who are going to show kindness to us?” I grumbled while pouring the heavy
bucket of water into the huge tub. “I heard gossip from the main ship that we lost our way. I really don’t
want to die here” murmured Bob.
It had been two months after we departed from last piece of land. The weather was getting hotter
and more people got sick. Bob and I were busy helping Doctor Mak to take care of them. Things were
getting worse when one of our ships sank, all the food and water on that ship were gone. We were running
out of food and water, everyone was very frustrated and hungry. We were looking forward to see the land
again.
Suddenly, I heard the special pattern of drumroll from the main ship. I clapped my hand to my
mouth and Bob shouted to me, “Can you believe it? We are going to land soon!” Tears of happiness rolled
down my cheeks. I was very excited about landing a new place because I was fed up with the sea.
After we landed on a beach, we were surrounded by local people, who spoke in a way that I could
not understand and looked very unfriendly. They threw stones to us and shouted at us. When I thought
they were about to attack us, they all ran away back into the forest and disappeared. I was very confused and
terrified as I did not know what would happen.
While we were looking for herbs and food, I could feel the suspicious gazes from the local people
but I cannot see them. I felt upset as we were not doing anything harmful to them. Doctor Mak reminded
us that we were coming to share our friendliness and love to others. He told us to calm down, stay close to
each other and be friendly to local people.
One day, Bob and I saw a fainted kid when we were collecting herbs on the hillside. The boy’s
body was covered in bruises and scratches, he looked very weak and could not even open his eyes. We took
him back to our camp and asked Doctor Mak to treat him. When the boy woke up in our camp, he was
trembling in fear and sobbed miserably. After two days, the boy was getter better and stronger, he felt safe
and showed smiles.