Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 181

Treasure Surprise
Kennedy School, Ho, Hilary - 9
It was another one of those boring Friday nights at old Aunt Martha's house. We just can’t stand the scrabble
game she made us play over and over again nor the moldy smell in the living room. Also, her old toothbrush
she always carries around because she thinks it’s too special to leave at her house incase someone steals it.
Every week mom and dad party and hang out with their friends ,so they send my sister, my little twin
brothers and I to aunt Martha’s farmhouse. After dropping us off, mom spoke to my sister.
“Sorry, Angela, Sweetheart. Daddy and I will be off in Hawaii for just a week. You are the eldest one, and I
am trusting you to take care of the smaller kids. OK? Love you, bye…”next to mother, dad gave a weak
smile to Angela and waved goodbye. My sister walked inside miserable and told me that whenever they say
‘love you’ so carelessly, a little of her heart breaks away until it is nearly no more. We all sat down and stared
at the boring and plain cabbage soup Aunt Martha gives us for every meal. The twins groaned and then
there was absolute silence. It was so quiet, you could even hear a mouse’s footstep. A big, loud and smelly
buuuuurrrrrp from Aunt Martha broke the silence.
“Sorry, my dears...but I have something special to show you all. All that soup reminded me of it.” said Aunt
Martha’s wobbly voice. Our faces lightened up. The twins-Jacob and Jack were particularly interested.
Aunt Martha carried on: “You see, children, I’ve found this magnificent map in my special book of
wisdom.” She unfolded the piece of paper in her hand and spread out the ancient map on the table.
“And also that every time I want to find a random page, my book keeps on opening to this frame.” aunt
Martha added. Since Angela was 13 and very smart, she was able to find a clue. On the back side of the map,
there was a mysterious rhyme that appeared with a flash of light. Angela read the rhyme aloud:
Collect two things, silk and gold. Give it to a man that’s bald.
Save his terrible life aboard, at the ending of a cord.
Teach them pirates the lesson, don’t watch them slowly have progression.
Leave at night, take a bite
Of what’s in front of you. Do what’s right!
Slowly, it disappeared. Angela just stared at the map for a really long time.
“Maybe we need to somehow jump in the frame to get wherever this will take us,” suggested Angela. The
twins volunteered to jump in first. A few surprising moments later, we heard their echoed voices saying that
they are on a beach. I was next.
“Auntie, are you coming with us?” I asked.
“Dearest Olivia, of course I am. Don’t you little dumplings worry.” comforted Martha. I took a deep breath
and jumped in. Tossed and tumbled until I hit boiling hot sand. A gruff voice made me jump.
“Ta men shi ni de di di ma?” asked a chinese pirate-looking guy pointing to my brothers. I surprisingly
understood what he meant. I tried to answer back that they were my younger brothers but what came out
of my mouth was fluent chinese.
“Who are you all? Why are you here?” asked the pirate suspiciously. He gestured to the men behind him as
they roughly grabbed us by the ears. They tied all our hands together and marched us into the rowboat to
go to the main, grand sailing ship. The suspicious man brought us to what seemed like the leader who was
now glaringly eyeing us. He didn’t seem to be happy that we showed up in the middle of eating his cabbage
roll lunch. He stood up and wiped his mouth.
“Who are you? Are you a friend or enemy of China?” the leader demanded. Aunt Martha stepped up.
“Hi, Mr.Suspicious Weird Beard. We have come in peace and would like to join your fellow crew,” said
Aunt Martha trying to sound not scared. The rest of us gasped. The captain narrowed his eyes at us. He
looked as if he could read Aunt Martha’s mind-if she is trying to trick the captain or actually meaning it.
Finally, he said:
“Ms.Old And Stinky, I have some questions for you,”
While the captain and Aunt Martha were having the conversation, the twins, without being noticed, were
excited began exploring the ship. They found some colourful cloth and shiny coins to play with. When the
captain was asking questions, Aunt Martha noticed the cabbage stuck in his teeth and the captain looked
terrible. The captain’s face went red with anger when everyone he could see was laughing. She thought of
her toothbrush she had with her. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have something that can clean your teeth,” said
Aunt Martha.
“I can lend you my bristle toothbrush if you like,” she continued.
“Lend me your what?” asked the confused captain.
The captain snatched it from her and used it to clean his teeth. The cabbage got out and the pirates stopped
laughing. At that moment, the twins spotted a pirate that was bald and looked tired and bullied. They asked
the bald pirate to play with the. When the twins were handing that pirate cloth and coins, someone spotted