Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 85

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
Diocesan Preparatory School, Mak, Hei Tsit - 9
Yesterday, when I was riding my scooter down the road, I hit an oak tree and passed out.
When I woke up, I found that myself lying in a hammock in a cabin. I got up, went up some stairs and
found out that I was on a deck of a ship. There were people walking around, preparing food, repairing the
sails, scrubbing the decks and crushing up some herbs to make medicine. And all of them were wearing
ancient Chinese clothing. Then a man walked up to me. He looked like he was the captain.
“Who are you?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”
“My name is Lok Yan, and I seem to be lost,” I replied. “May I ask who you are?”
“My name is Zheng He,” said the man. “I am the admiral of the fleet. I suppose I can have you on this
voyage.” He then gave me some delicious food and showed me the room I was going to sleep in.
The next day, I thought it would be a normal day. But when night came, I suddenly heard the sound of
battle, I took a quick look of what was happening on the deck and saw that there was a fierce battle around
me. I went onto the deck. There were people shooting arrows with fire or gunpowder on the ends. I saw
that the ships that we were battling with belonged to pirates. I also heard sounds like ‘Boom!’ or ‘Crash!’
The ship rocked and swayed. It was terrifying. At that point, I saw the flag they put on the ship. The
word ‘Ming’ was written on it. I thought, “Wow! That means this is a very long time ago.” I stayed
awake until dawn. I could still see it clearly now. The pirates lost and we won! Now there were five boats
following us, they were carrying some imprisoned pirates.
After a few weeks of giving gifts, trading with kings of different countries, we finally reached East Africa and
met a giraffe there. Zheng He and his crew did not know what it was. They felt so surprised to see a
creature with a long neck. They called it ‘Kirin’. They thought it had magical powers which came from
the gods.
There we also met other animals, such as lions and parrots. We also gave them silk, tea leaves and taught
them skills. They gave us their specialties like pepper, paints and dyes in return. On the way back to our
countries on the deck of the ship, I accidentally slipped and fell, and fell, and fell……
When I woke up, I found myself lying on a hospital bed. I looked around and saw my family next to me. I
was so glad and relieved to see them. I hugged them immediately. I felt something in my pocket. They
were some peppercorns that looked exactly like the ones that we got when we traded with the East African
people back in my dream! That reminded me to tell the whole dream to my family when we got back
home. It was an unforgettable experience.
Still, I had a big question in my mind. Was it a dream or not?