Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 52

Mal de Mer
Shanghai Singapore International School, Pan, Qi - 11
“I will never go overseas again!” Even though Zheng He had just regained consciousness, he was deep
in thought. He had just fainted from exhaustion. Zheng He and his followers had just come back from Java
Island, Indonesia. Java had been caught in a civil war between Java East and Java West, and Zheng He and
his crew had been suffering in a Western jail. At last, when Java West had won, the emperor of Java finally
found out that Zheng He was from “China.” He nervously apologized and sent a lot of gold and jewels back
with him.
When Zheng He and his crew finally returned to their ships, they set sail. Afterwards they figured out
that in total they had lost eight ships and a quarter of his crew, destroyed by the war. On the ship, Zheng
He and all his crew were exhausted, especially Zheng He, who soon became extremely seasick and regretted
getting on the ship. The ship’s crew was deeply homesick, which added to Zheng He’s misery until he
finally fainted. There was chaos!
The weather did not help either. There was a thunderstorm for two nights, and they lost another two
ships and almost one sixth of their crew. Zheng He was lucky to survive; the furious waves almost threw
him overboard, but his trusted aide, Wang Jing Hong, pulled him back onboard in the nick of time. At first
he thought Zheng He might be dead since he was unconscious, but they were relieved to see him breathing.
During the time that Zheng He was unconscious, the news of his coming sailing ships spread
throughout the whole Samboja Kingdom, near Palembang, Indonesia. “Tap, tap, tap, tap……” The
notorious pirate Chen Zuyi was deep in thought, tapping his fingers on the table. As a cunning plan
gradually developed, the smile on his face expanded. He had already snatched many ships, and had never
failed. From his spies, he had learned that Zheng He was skilled only on land, and also suffered from
seasickness. Most importantly, he knew that Zheng He was now weak. Now was the time to strike.
Chen Zuyi loudly announced, “My dear crew, Zheng He and his lovely ships are coming our way.
Don’t be afraid about their numbers. They’ll cause no harm since their captain is sick! Let’s deceive them!”
Chen Zuyi was confident, but he didn’t notice the shivering black shadow standing behind the curtain,
which never belonged to there.
After the storm, the weather cleared and Zheng He finally woke up. His assistant Wang Jing Hong told
him that while he was asleep, they learned that the notorious pirate Chen Zuyi had been nearby, but had
died due to sickness. Wang Jing Hong said that since Chen Zuyi’s crew had lost their leader, they were tired
of the pirate life, and they wanted to go back home. The people in Samboja confirmed that the evil Chen
Zuyi’s time was finally over!
No doubt that Zheng He believed Chen Zuyi’s trap. Zheng He’s crew went to visit the Samboja
“villagers.” However, the “villagers” were really Chen Zuyi’s crew!
After lying to Wang Jing Hong, Chen Zuyi’s crew headed to trick the town villagers. Chen Zuyi’s
plan was perfect, airtight. Still, nothing is COMPLETELY perfect.
Zheng He’s ship stopped near Samboja, and he was about to rest. Suddenly, a mysterious dog appeared,
and Zheng He stared at it. It had beautiful blue eyes, golden fur; it was a golden retriever. The dog looked
Zheng He right in his eyes, as though trying to tell him something. Zheng He was perplexed. It looked so
similar to his own dear old dog. It could have been his little brother. Following the dog, he went down
through the ship and the complex passageways, finally discovering a mysterious man with a black cloak.
There was only a broken lantern shining in the corner. Just before the light went out, he spoke. “Chen Zuyi
did not die. He was lying to everyone. He was trying to get you……” The light faded. The man melted
into the darkness, and disappeared.
The next day after checking drawings of Chen Zuyi’s face so they could recognize him, Zheng He’s
crew headed to Samboja. There were six pirate ships flying skull and crossbones waiting. Zheng He was
ready to board Chen Zuyi’s ship. Chen Zuyi pretended to be Chen Zuyi’s “son,” but still Zheng He figured
this out and thought of another plan for his crew and for himself. The other crew members should enter the
other five ships. Then, if the ship Zheng He was on got into trouble, the crew would burn the other ships.
As Zheng He went into the ship, it smelled like rotten old socks. There were rats everywhere. Going
into the meeting room, Chen Zuyi, pretending to be his son, was waiting. “My father died because of a
disease, it was from rats (sob)! No matter what we do, we can’t get rid of the rats.”