Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 237

Horns of Dilemma on The Majestic
Pui Ching Primary School, Au, Nga Wun Adelaide - 11
The weather was much better than I had expected. I whistled a joyful tune while carrying Chinese herbal
medicines in my rucksack. Tangerine peels and pumpkin seeds rocked back and forth on my wooden
cabinet as we sailed on our ship, The Majestic.
The Captain was Zheng He. I couldn’t exaggerate how respectable he was. I grew up in Beijing with him.
All I had ever seen him do was donate money to the poor while offering words of wisdom to those in need.
He was also the one who encouraged me to become a medic. He was a captain, a mentor and a confidant.
The emperor ordered master Zheng He to take the crew and me to Vietnam, in order to trade goods with
them. The emperor wanted us to disguise ourselves as pirates, so no one would come steal our goods. I
guess you could say we tried to do ‘good’ for the world, while pretending to be pirates.
My job on the ship was to heal the sick and injured. Be it beggars, common people, officials or kings, I
treated them all just the same. It’s not for the money or reputation, but to feed my dream since I was a child.
It all started like this: A deadly plague, killed thousands in my village, including my whole family. I was
lucky to survive but I was so depressed that I felt dead inside. As my broken heart healed, I realized that the
problem was that there weren’t enough doctors. That’s when I made a vow – “I will work hard to become
a doctor. No one in my presence should ever die the way my family did.”
We arrived in Vietnam. The king welcomed us into his palace. We had a hot bath, some new clothes, a
scrumptious meal and received luxurious goods in return from him. We hopped on our ship once again and
started sailing back to Beijing.
Not long after, another pirate fleet named “Toxic Dragon” came out to attack us. An epic battle, unlike
anything I had seen before, began. Men fought, pouncing onto one another, stabbing and killing. The smell
of blood, sweat and gunpowder overwhelmed my senses. While the battle surged on, I stood there
motionless, in the corner with fearful eyes. Slowly and slowly, I saw my friends fall to their death. We were
going to lose. Zheng He was fighting the leader of “Toxic Dragon”, a muscular smug-faced man. His
name was Gilch.
I wanted to help him, but the thought of hurting anyone with my hands made my limbs freeze. I felt like I
had no control over my limbs. I stood there like a brick. Emotionless. That’s when I caught a glimpse of a
seriously injured man, crouching on the ground in pain. At once, I rushed to him, carrying him on my arms
back to my cabin. His nose was broken, and it seemed that his ribs had cracked. I thought, “No matter
what, I have to heal him..”
I put him on the bed, and realized that he was still conscious. The minute I washed the blood on his face, I
quivered. It was Gilch. Right then, one of our crew dragged Zheng He with a swollen eye and broken
fingers into my cabin. Even though he wasn’t seriously injured, my heart sank. Seeing your captain, who has
been so helpful and caring to you, a person you see as your idol hurt, how would you feel?
There are ups and downs in life and this one was one of my hardest times. I had to choose: help my enemy
who was seriously hurt and nearly dying or help my mentor who was less injured. I wanted to save both but
I didn’t have enough time.
I looked up at the clouds and made a wish, “Please, don’t let the sun go down, I need time!” Time did not
stop for me so I used my gut feeling to make the choice: to help Toxic Dragon’s captain, Gilch. And for
Zheng, he was suddenly losing a lot of blood but I knew deeply inside me, that Zheng He would have
agreed with my choice.
Word got out that Gilch was badly hurt, and that the healer of The Majestic was healing him. The minute
they heard this, the crew members of the Toxic Dragon put down their swords. When they came to my
cabin, our crew were dumbstruck about Zheng’s body but the Toxic Dragons confronted them in peace and
thanked me for saving their captain.
The emperor understood why I chose our enemy over Zheng and was thrilled about the successful
trading. However,the emperor also learnt that he shouldn’t let us disguise as pirates next time in case the
same thing happens! The Toxic Dragons were not punished at all since they were incredibly good
sailors. The emperor gave them new names to honor them and they were the main sailors of our fleet in
our second voyage. However, the happiest thing that happened in this journey was that I chose the right
choice and I learnt that you cannot save everyone, no matter how hard you try.