Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 110

The Ming Treasure Adventure
St. Stephen's College Preparatory School, Aprea, Arianna Kalista - 9
After a long, tiring day of boring history lessons learning about the Ming Dynasty treasure
voyages, I went home to study for the first test about one of the voyages of Zheng He and his men. It was
already eleven o’clock and I was trying not to fall asleep as words floated in my mind. The first voyage...
Chinese Emperor... massive ships ...,suddenly, the room started to change. My bed melted away, the
curtains and blankets turned into heaps of soft silk, and the cabinets crumbled to bits of coins and jewelry.
The colorful painted walls were disappearing into thin air. All of my books, notebooks, school notices and
homework were forming into powerful weapons. That was not all, I was shrinking! I looked into the mirror
quickly before it vanished and saw that I was actually a real teeny weeny mouse!!!
It was unclear where I was as the floor beneath me suddenly rocked from side-to-side. There
was a round window which looked out to the ocean. It was clear that I was on a boat! I looked up and saw
a man next to me. It was fleet admiral Zheng He! It was hard to believe my eyes. A rush of excitement ran
all the way down my fur. Zheng He wore drapes of long red silk reaching all the way to his ankle,
elaborately embroidered with gold dragons. He was trying to estimate how much further the ship had to
sail before reaching land. A while later, from one of the portholes at the lower deck of the ship I recognized
the land we were heading for, it was Malacca! I knew that it was Malacca because my family and I visited
during the summer holidays.
“We are arriving in Malacca, lower the sails. We have to be very polite to the people there,”
Zheng He ordered as he got ready to get off the ship. As Zheng He stepped off the ship with me hanging
to the back of his shoe, a young prince was already at the pier awaiting the arrival of visitors.
“Welcome. What are you doing here?” the prince asked curiously. He was wearing a gold suit
with heavy jewelry around his neck.
“I am Zhang He. I am bearing gifts from the Chinese Emperor. Why aren’t there many people
here for trading?” Zheng He replied as he looked back at his men.
“There have been too many pirate attacks, very few traders dare to step on our land.” The
prince said sadly. Then the prince let out a loud scream. I realized I had been spotted. “A mouse, a mouse!
Let’s catch it. I want a new pet.” Men started to chase after me. I scampered away as quickly as I could and
slipped into a box of treasures. I stayed as still as a little statue, hoping that they would give up their search.
All of a sudden, the box started wobbling. I was being carried away. In the distance, I heard the Prince
welcome Zhang He into his palace.
I was relieved that they had given up the search for me, as I heard the men call out to the
prince, “We lost it. We lost the mouse. Let us bring the gifts into the palace.”
“Gifts? What gifts? Oh No! I am in one of the gift boxes…” I said.
“Did you hear something?” One of the men asked. I held on to my breath for dear life.
“No, I didn’t. Stop daydreaming and hurry up. We need to get the gifts into the palace, the
prince is waiting.” One of the other men replied. I was again, relieved.
Then, the next thing I knew, I was in the palace. Suddenly, they opened the box. I dove
deeper into the pearls, gold, and gems. Unfortunately, they gently tipped the box over and I toppled out
along with all the colourful trading treasures. From the look on Zhang He’s face, I knew he saw me. To
my surprise, instead of capturing me, he stepped in front of me to block me from the Prince’s view. That
was my chance to escape. Bewildered, I scurried off to the next room. As the men were busy admiring and
organizing the treasures, I gave myself a tour of the grand palace. CLANK! … … The sharp noise of
crashing swords pierced my ears.
“What was th…?” I shivered. Before I could even finish my thought, the pictures in the
gallery tumbled off the walls, missing me by a whisker. I dashed for the entrance of the palace, dodging a
huge stone pillar that crumbled next to me. At the entrance I saw the most terrifying scene, the pirates, they