Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 220

The Seventh Voyage
Ying Wa Primary School, Chan, Roy - 11
Our ship disembarked for the twelfth time, leaving behind a band of cheerful people clutching our crates of
presents, while waving at us.
My name is Chan Se, and I am a crew member aboard our captain, Zheng He’s ship on his seventh
journey. This is my first journey and my heart already longs to return to my family.
There are strict rules that we must follow on board, and the number of crew members getting seasick
has reached three-digits long ago, the same goes to the people I know who want to quit this journey and
return home.
The sky starts to get dark – a storm is brewing. ‘Full speed ahead!’ shouts Captain Zheng. The mast
flutters in the wind, and the hull creaks and groans. Several people on board get seasick at the same time as
the ship lurches and all stagger to the railings to throw up into the raging sea.
Suddenly, our lookout runs, gasping, up to Captain Zheng, looking frightened. ‘Pirates!’ he exclaims.
Indeed, a vast ship is emerging from the dark horizon, bearing a ragged flag with the familiar crossbones
symbol on it. Standing on the ship’s deck is a tall, heavily bearded man with a wild look in his eyes, and he
is twirling a gun in his fingers easily, flanked by a dozen other pirates.
‘Ready the cannons!’ cries Captain Zheng. The crew obey quickly, and soon all our cannons are all
trained onto the pirates’ ship. Our enemies quickly train their cannons at us also, and a tense feeling falls
between the two ships.
The pirate captain shouts, and a volley of cannonballs hit our ship, sending several people overboard.
We return fire, and soon both sides are shooting cannonballs at each other as fast as possible, with the sea full
of people trying to climb back aboard their own ships to help and fight.
We almost seem to be losing the fight when suddenly the pirates retreat, running away quickly.
Feeling puzzled, we turn around and the answer unravels in front of us.
A humongous creature is rising from the depths of the sea. It has millions of tentacles all over its body,
and an enormous, bloodshot eye in the in the middle of its lime green forehead. With a slap from its
tentacles, the ship tilts dangerously to the right, then starts to sink.
‘At that moment I saw the rows of razor-sharp jaws inside the creature’s mouth.
I thought I was a goner, but I somehow managed to grab hold of a drifting piece of wood and drifted to a
nearby island. Weeks passed by, and I finally managed to catch the attention of…’
I looked over at my son sitting in the chair next to me, he was hiding a smile, clearly thinking that I
was mad. I sighed to myself. No one had ever believed me after that incident, being a surviving witness on
board. I slowly closed my eyes, letting go of my past, and entering heaven.