Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 20

Zheng He
Carmel School Association Elsa High School, Selevan, Bradley - 14
Thoughts were rushing through my head as I was putting the last of my clothes into my full, leather trunk. I
got on the floor and put all of my body weight onto the trunk as I struggled to buckle the latches. I went to
my curtains and pulled them open. It was still dark outside, the sun was just shining across the horizon. I
quietly picked up my luggage and walked to the front door. I knew that it would be my last time here. My
father startled me as he walked out of the dark dining room.
“You can’t keep running away from your problems, Xie Wan,” my father said to me in a soft voice.
“I am not running away,” I said to him with a harsh tone. “I just can’t stay here. All these terrible memories
are all that’s ever in my mind. Seeing my mother cry in these rooms, and now she’s just gone.”
I began tearing up and unlocked the door with one of my hands and the other reached for my trunk. I
began to walk out of the house. My father grabbed my arm with force.
“Coward!” he hissed at me and slammed the door in my face.
My life has always been a mess. I grew up in a small house, with two parents that would always fight. I spent
most days sneaking through the village, taking anything I could get my hands on. When I was around
fifteen, pick-pocketing was a hobby of mine. It was a risky task, but I was struggling and it was a risk I was
willing to take. My mother became ill and the treatment was too expensive for our family. She slowly
suffered for years, until her final day came. It was my eighteenth birthday. Nothing has been the same since.
My dad’s anger had never been worse, he was taking out his sadness on me. He was a bringing home a new
whore every night. Seeing a woman walk out of my father’s room in the morning was heartbreaking. I
couldn’t deal with this torture anymore. I knew it was time to get away, start something new and not feel
like such a waste.
I was ready to be out at sea for a while. My mother would always walk me down to the port when my dad
couldn’t get a grip of himself. She would tell me everything would be alright. She always reassured me that
it would just be hard for a while, but everything will be clear eventually. I stopped believing in the things
my mother would tell me. All my hope was so close to being completely gone.
I slowly made it down to the harbor. There were at least fifty boats docked against the waterfront. These
boats were later filled with the thousands of men crowding the area, including me. We were setting sail for
our journey to the coast of East Africa later that day. The sun fully rose as the admiral, Zheng He, rose to
inform us about how our next few years at sea would look. He was a very inspirational man. He gave his life
to the emperor and I have always found that to be a sign of true commitment. I always aspired to have that
much motivation and enjoyment of my work.