Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 114

Adventure on the Sea
St Stephen's College Prep School, Chen, Daniel - 12
A long time ago, there were lots of vicious pirates, fighting and killing their way for treasures; not stopping
until they got gleaming gold and precious jewels. They were ruthless villains, mean and filthy…
In China, the emperor, Huang Jiang Ming Tong, was a bit scared.
“Ooh, I’m scared! Pirates might kill me! “He’d whimper every night to his nanny. Now, Huang Jiang Ming
Tong was only eight years old, and of course was scared of everything.
“There, there, kid. Nothing to be afraid of,” Nanny would answer, but she herself would be trembling.
Whole of China was terrified of the pirates.
Time went by…
Huang Jiang Ming Tong grew up and he wanted to defeat the pirates. He thought and thought and
finally came up with an idea! He would beat the pirates at their own game: overseas! He found a very
capable admiral in his own navy, his name was Zheng , who quickly gathered support from the people in
the country and in a month, the navy had approximately five hundred thousand men! They decided to fight
back. They were trained with swords, bows and arrows and shields. Expert sailsmen manned the ships, and
the fleet was ready.
“Take this with you!” shouted the emperor to the admiral. He was holding a heavy box, full of treasures.
“When you go to other countries, go to see the rulers and offer them some of these precious treasures so we
can make treaties with them!”
“Your Majesty, your wish is my command,” Replied the admiral, who was famous for his bushy moustache
and his ingenious strategies which he gets while twisting the ends of his moustache. The whole fleet of navy
departed from the royal port in Peking (now Beijing) and set out towards the pirates.
The ships were massive, made of fine wood. There were many gun ports, with cannons
ready to fire. The sails flapped in the wind and carved on the bows were ugly mythical faces. The ships were
so polished that they gleamed in the sunlight. It was a most astonishing sight.
The “Ming treasure fleet”, as they were called, had many dangerous and exciting adventures. Here
is one of them …
One foggy day, the navy was looking for pirates to battle.
“We look smart in our uniforms!” gloated a navy soldier.
“Yes, absolutely, my dear fellow!” another agreed. “I reckon we might wipe out all the pirates from the face
of the Earth!” All the soldiers chuckled and giggled. Suddenly it all became quiet. The Admiral was here.
“Attention!” he barked.
“Yes, Sir!” the soldiers replied.
“Now, whose turn is it to go up and look out for danger in the crow’s nest?” he said, not so loud now.
“Me, but …but I’ve got vertigo,” stammered a scared soldier.
“Oh, who’s after him?” Admiral Zheng asked.
“I’m next,” bellowed a buff man called Ben.
“Okay, see you up there,” said the Admiral. A few minutes later, there was a really loud shout!
“PIRATES ON STARBOARD! PIRATES ON STARBOARD!” The navy soldier jumped to their feet
and swore at the pirates, fired cannons and shouted war cries: the fight was on! Cannonballs flew and zipped
everywhere. Swords were drawn and the clang of metal was deafening. Suddenly, there was a big thumping
noise! The pirates dropped their weapons and retreated, thinking it was a giant coming to hunt them. It was
actually some navy soldiers beating some drums! The soldiers laughed and howled, and they gave chase.
Little did they know, a whole armada of pirate ships were waiting for them. “We’ve got you now, fools!”
said the leader of the pirates. All the pirates pointed their weapons at the naval soldiers and chanted,”
Surrender or die! Surrender or die! Surrender or die!”
“Maybe you should surrender instead, pirates!” said the cunning Admiral Zheng while twiddling his
moustache. Without the pirates knowing, he sent messenger doves to his backup fleet. Out of the mist, a
whole fleet of naval warships appeared and surrounded the pirate ships. From the warships, the beating of
drums were heard. They opened fire on the pirate ships, blasting holes everywhere, letting water rush into
the hulls. Before the ship sank, some naval soldiers hopped onto the main pirate ship and got all the loot,
killing the leading pirate (to prove that they killed him they chopped off his head) and all the pirates standing
in their way with their sharp swords. The pirates either died of drowning or got captured by the navy.