Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 212

The Storm of Bravery
Marymount Primary School, Ng, Cherie - 10
“Wake up, YuLong! It’s time for breakfast!”
I groggily opened my eyes. TianMing, my bossy older brother, was standing next to me, his expression
sour. I got to my feet and put on my hand-me-down boots. I then followed TianMing out onto the deck
of the pirate ship.
My name is YuLong, and I am part of the Ming Treasure Fleet. Instead of stealing treasure, like your
average pirate fleet, we deliver invaluable treasure from the finest silk to the purest gold to foreign countries
as gifts from the Emperor. You can guess by my name, YuLong, that I’m a girl, and the only one on the
ship. The captain decided to let me stay because my father was a well-respected member of the crew. He
died of typhoid fever shortly after I was born, leaving me and TianMing in the hands of the fleet.
I shivered as I stepped out into the open air. The sky was covered with stormy gray clouds and there
was a cold draft.
A crowd of pirates were chattering and munching on their breakfast. TianMing joined them while I sat
in the corner with the boys about my age, waiting for the pirates to finish their meals so that we could
scavenge the scraps. We were the slaves of the crew---those who did all the dirty work and got fed the
least.
LungLi, our Sailing Master frowned as he eyed the dark sky. “There’s a storm coming,” he croaked.
“I can feel it. Everyone back to your cabins after this meal.” He glanced at us. “Except for you skinny brats.
Stay in the kitchen and wash the dishes.”
“The only reason why we’re skinny is because you don’t feed us well.” I mumbled under my breath.
LungLi glared at me.
“What did you say?” the aggressive pirate growled, clenching his fists.
“Nothing.” I gulped, quickly scooting away from LungLi.
The next hour was exhausting. It was bad enough without the boys teasing me about being a girl. I
was overwhelmed with relief when the Cook dismissed us to our cabin. I curled up in a corner and quickly
drifted off.
I was awoken by a gigantic lurch. The ship was swaying from side to side. Everyone else must have
felt it too, because nobody was asleep anymore.
A moment later, TianMing rushed in. “Everyone wake up! The ship just hit a rock, and water’s
leaking into the storage rooms now. It can be fixed, but it’s not safe for you all to stay down here. Everyone
out onto the deck!”
Everyone was in a scurry of panic. There was a lot of pushing to get to the deck first. It wasn’t until I
had stepped out that I realized how violent the storm was. Rain was pouring down from the sky.
“Are you sure this is safe, TianMing?” I shouted sarcastically, but nobody could hear me over the
roaring wind. The ship was tilting dangerously to one side.
Suddenly, the ship jerked to the other side, sending us stumbling. HoMing, one of the boys who had
made fun of me earlier on, tumbled overboard, screaming. He splashed about in the water, tears rolling
down his cheeks. I immediately ran to help him, but a hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Forget it,” KwokChi, TianMing’s best friend, said. “If you dive in, you’ll drown as well. Leave him
be.”
“What?” I yelled, incredulous. “You’re just going to let him die?” Before anyone could stop me, I
plunged into the waters.
Instantly, nail-biting cold overcame me as I struggled to resurface. I was frantically searching for
HoMing when I felt a hand grab my wrist. HoMing. I then used all the strength I had left in my body to
swim me and HoMing to the ship. We were almost there when my body numbed and couldn’t move. I
screamed as I tried to fight back the cold, but it was impossible. I was wondering how painful death would
be when a rough hand grabbed me and hauled me out of the freezing waters, along with HoMing.
The next hour was a blur. For the first time, the whole crew had their attention on me. TianMing,
who had been the one hauling me up, dried me and brought me to his private cabin. He laid all the cloth
and rags he could find on the floor, creating a makeshift mattress.
“You…saved my life,” I stuttered after I had recovered from the trauma. “Why would you do that?”