Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 147

The Sea and the Sky
St. Stephen's College Preparatory School, Yuan, Grace - 10
It was an extraordinary day in the 1400s. On a bright and warm winter morning, the sun was shimmering in
the blue sky, the sea was peaceful and glistened like a huge blue crystal, and several seagulls were gliding
around, enjoying the nice breeze. In the Bay of China South East Sea, forty-five humongous ships were
anchored, which carried cargoes of gold, silks, Chinese tea. Their brand new white sails were raised ready to
set out. The Emperor of China of the Ming dynasty had decided to send those treasures to India, Africa and
Arabia to build up good relationships.
In my ship, Captain Butch, a motley crew of sailors, soldiers, fortune seekers and I were excited to set sail on
this voyage. Captain Butch was a strong old man with white hair and black eyes. He was a brave and
experienced sailor! My name was Grace, a 10 year old girl from a poor family. Captain Butch chose me as
his servant for this voyage. He treated me so well, just like my father. I was so proud to be working in this
great fleet. Right before sailing, I prayed to the Lord of the Sky for a safe and lucky adventure.
A few days had passed, nothing really happened and we enjoyed the warm sunshine and the relaxing sounds
of the ocean in the ship. However, one night, a huge storm came!
That night, the sky turned dark and the moon and stars all disappeared. Big waves hit our ship and the ship
deck was full of water. Suddenly a huge underwater monster appeared in front of us! It was about fifty feet
tall and about twenty feet wide. It had an eagle's head and a lion's body. Beside the underwater monster was
a ship with fearsome looking pirates, who had raised the monster and commanded it to kill all people in our
ship and help them steal our treasures!
The underwater monster jumped onto our ship. Captain Butch ordered our military forces to fight against
it. However, with its magic powers, the monster was too strong, and the soldiers began dying one by one.
Captain Butch waved his long sword and fought back against the monster. His sword chopped off the
monster's arm. However, he was struck by the monster close to his heart. I ran to the Captain and saw the
blood running out of his mouth. Captain Butch looked at me, and with a weak voice, he said, "kid, be
brave, fight and protect our people until you die!" He put his sword into my hand.
"Captain! Captain!" I cried.
"Now you are." Captain Butch smiled at me and closed his eyes for the last time.
I looked at the huge ship deck, on which near half of our military forces were lying down covered in blood.
I raised the sword in the air and shouted to the sky, " Lord of the Sky, where are you? Can you protect us?"
A strip of light split the dark sky and I heard a voice saying, "Pray with your heart and your blood, kid!"
I scratched my hand with the sword, and put my hands together over my heart and prayed, "Lord of the
Sky, please protect our people and help us kill the monster."
After my prayer, I saw a big golden dragon jumped out from the clouds and fly towards me. I jumped onto
his neck and rode the dragon towards the underwater monster. The monster looked scared and started to
back away. The dragon breathed fire on the monster, struck its head and broke its neck with his sharp
talons. The monster sank into the deep water. Our surviving military forces saw what was happening and
were filled with hope. They managed to force the pirates back and killed many of them as they tried to
return to their ship.
The next morning, the sun rose and the storm stopped. The ocean became peaceful again and a rainbow
came out in the sky. Another bright and beautiful day had arrived! The dragon dropped me onto the ship
and flew away into the clouds. The remaining military forces cheered loudly, and raised me into the air
three times. I became the hero and the new captain. We had lost close friends and our ships were damaged,
but we still felt a joy at being alive, so when we had repaired our ships, we set sail again to continue our
journey!