Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 101

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voyages
St. Margaret's Co-Educational English Secondary and Primary School, Del Mundo, Giuliana Sero - 11
On the 11 th of July 2405, Zheng He and his crew stepped nervously inside NASA’s Space Voyager. They
put on their helmets, the same colour as their silver spacesuits, and walked into the cockpit.
A voice spoke through the TalkBox, “T-minus 1 minute, 30 seconds,” Zheng He fiddled with some of the
controls and buckled on his seatbelt.
“This is it,” he thought.
“T-minus 1 minute,” the boosters started, ready to launch.
“T-minus 30 seconds.”
He gulped.
“10, 9, 8…”
He glanced back at his crew, who looked as nervous as him, their faces as white as the clouds they were
about to shoot through.
“7,6,5…”
“I’m ready,” he said with determination.
“4,3,2…1!”
And they blasted off!
A few days passed. As Zheng He scanned the area, he noticed a strange planet in the distance.
“What is THAT?” He pointed towards a planet with dark blue spots all around its yellow surface.
“Let’s land,” suggested a crew member.
“Yes, let’s inspect it!” replied an eager Zheng He.
The spaceship suddenly shook vigorously, causing the crew members to scream in fright. Zheng He held
onto the emergency lever and the spaceship gradually stopped shaking.
“Strange,” mused Zheng He. “That has never happened before.”
They landed on the planet. A small sign read, “Welcome to Champolia! Enjoy your stay!”
“Champolia sounds familiar. I must have read about it in a book…” Zheng He pondered. “It’s the former
name of Vietnam!”
He pointed towards a citadel and a moat surrounding a small, ramshackle village. “Let’s go there!”
They marched to the citadel, passing through the village. The villagers looked like just like them. The
villagers, confused and suspicious, started murmuring to each other as they stared at the astronauts.
“Who are they?”
“Where did they come from?”
“Why do they look like us?”
The crew stepped inside the enormous citadel. It was decorated with yellow and red sparkles and floating
candles. At the center of the citadel was a king, proudly sitting on his throne, dressed in red, yellow and
cerulean satin.
“Who are you?” He asked.
“We are humans from Earth!” said a proud Zheng He.
The king’s eyes widened. “The myths are true! Show me how you got here!”