Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 118

Raid on Shanghai
Chinese International School, Xia, Emily - 12
T
he Pirate Lord slammed his dagger down onto the table, the wood cracking under the pressure.
“Chusuke,”
The word felt like a death sentence. Chusuke knew what was about to follow. Chusuke had
seen many pirates subjected to the task in the other cities they had plundered, but he had never dreamed
that it would fall upon him.
A suicide mission.
Alas, he had tested his limits for too long. The taut bowstring that was The Pirate Lord’s hate for him had been
released. The arrow was directly headed his way.
“Chusuke,” The Pirate Lord intoned, “you have to break into the city of Shanghai to open the gate for us. Fail, and
you’ll never see your sick mother again. You have three days, now go!”
Chusuke gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. The guards of Shanghai fiercely protected their hometown from
wokou pirates. Then, his mind bucked like a proud, wild stallion refusing to be broken in. No, he would not give up,
he’d survive.
“Understood,” he said, “I’ll leave at midnight.”
“Why, you’re shaking.” The Pirate Lord sneered, “After all, you’re the spitting image of your Chinese father. Your
Japanese mother should have chosen better.”
Chusuke’s eye began to twitch, and his hands trembled, but his face remained blank and empty.
Good pirates never show emotion.
“Understood,” he muttered again, “I’ll leave at midnight.”
Chusuke slipped the small skiff onto the water. He slung the bow over his shoulder, and patted his arrows. He
drifted across the waves, gliding toward dark, walled city.
Gazing up at the sturdy stone wall, Chusuke unslung his bow, and drew a heavy broad tipped arrow. He took a deep
breath and nocked it. He could stop now, Chusuke knew, but the thought of his bed ridden mother back in Japan
dispelled the notion. If he failed, the wokou would punish humbly murdering his defenceless mother.
Pause.
Draw.
Loose.
The arrow arced through the darkness, the cruel iron tip reflecting the moonlight. It was the only pinprick of light