Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 28

Life Through Unforgettable Voyages
Delia School of Canada, Rajput, Aditi - 14
“Yeh were a lil’ baby at that time, Cheng”, Uncle Zhang told me whenever I asked him to recite me the
story of when Li found me. Uncle Zhang had worked for 45 years under him and his dad until Li died.
Zhang was a juvenile man, around 15, when he joined Li’s dad’s crew. He was like a little seedling who just
sprouted from under the ground at that time. But as time passed, he made friends and learnt a lot from his
dad. Unfortunately Li’s dad, Luis died in a battle at the age of 40, leaving Li to be made the next captain. Li
proved himself to be a prominent captain with admirable leadership skills. Li died as well after 10 years.
Uncle Zhang was like my dad and Li like a brother, being the dearest for me.
I went to uncle Zhang. His cabin, with some other people from the crew, is just above mine. All these
people here are like a family to me because I have lived my whole life here. I held the doorknob and
entered his cabin. “Hello uncle Zhang. Would you mind telling me the story of when Li found me, please?”
I inquired him. “Again!! Oh, okay. Don’t make tha’ face. I’ll tell yeh the story yet again. C’mon now, sit
here.”
He began “We were on this ship with captain. The sun’s heat was so blisterin’ tha’ day, I thought it was
goin’ ter fry me like an egg. And then Wong, one o’ the workers guarding the sails tha’ day started shouting,
jumping up and down. ‘Captain, captain. I see smoke over that island. A lot of smoke. Come, hurry,
look…’ he yelled on the top of ’is lungs. The captain came in burstin’ open the door of his cabin ‘What
happened?’ ‘Captain, do you see the smoke over that island?’ While tryin’ to block sunlight with his hands,
he peered in tha’ direction. ‘Hmm….interesting! Wong, turn the sails in that direction. We are going to
have a look of the island. Take the required things. I want half the crew, stay back, look after Thunder
Dragon. Zhang and Wong, accompany me. Get to work! ” Thunder Dragon is the name of our ship.
Uncle Zhang continued “We reached the shore after half an hour. We disembarked the ship with
captain and started walkin’ in ter the heart o’ the forest coverin’ the island. We walked, encounterin’
different types o’ animals and plants o’ the land, some o’ which were perilous while the others harmless.
The sun had started ter set and all of us were extremely tired. ‘We haven’t found anything yet, captain.
Even the sun has started to set. Shouldn’t we board the ship before nightfall?’ Mack, one o’ our crew guys,
suggested. ‘You are right. Let's turn and-’ Captain stopped mid-sentence an’ started sprintin’. He called out
‘Hey, smoke’s coming from that direction. Follow me.’ We reached in ter a clearing in the forest. It seemed
like a village, set off on fire. ‘What is this place’ Wong asked. As we moved forward, we could see dead
bodies lying all over the place, bleedin’, so dreadful to see because o’ the way it was burnt. We searched all
the huts an’ finally reached the hut in the center. Captain, Mack, Wong and I cautiously entered the hut.
Captain went in ter a room and came out with some basket. “Look at this” he showed. We all huddled in a
circle. He removed the sheet coverin’ the basket and there you were, Cheng, less than a year old. You
began crying. We all stared in shock that everyone was dead, except you” Uncle Zhang stopped. I could see
that he was recalling the reminiscence of that day. “You were so adorable tha’ we could not think of leaving
you like tha’. So, for the sake o’ humanity we took you. We scoured the place again and went back ter the
ship. While we were walking back, I asked ‘What do ya reckon her name should be’ and we came up with
many names. Finally, we consulted captain. ‘I expect her to be even braver in the future. How about a name
expressing power- like, Chenguang’ he said. We agreed and thought the name to be exquisite. We reached
back ter the ship and showed ya ter everyone else. They were amazed by ya. From then, you were with us”
he concluded. I am always flabbergasted by this story no matter how many times I have heard it. But the
biggest question was how did I survive? “Uncle Zhang, do you know that how could I have survived at the
time?” I asked him for the thousandth time. “I dunno Cheng but I was thinkin’ about tha’ earlier and likely
it was your parents who hid you in a secure place with the sheet over you, ter protect ya. Your parents were
killed in the incident. I can say tha’ cause I saw a lady with a similar face as yours. Not sure if she was your
mother. Must have died protecin’ ya. Otherwise, I dunno. It’s pretty late now. Should go sleep” he said.
“Yes, good night. You should sleep as well.” I left the room and went back to the cabin. I put off the lamp
hanging over my table and fell to sleep almost instantly.
I had a dream or should I say a nightmare and there were my parents being tortured. I don’t know
how they look like but the feeling was more than anything else to explain it. I suddenly woke up and a cold
sweat broke off. There are other things dreadful than this. I still remember that day clearly. I was 15 then.
It was a bright day. No sign of anything unpleasant. I was playing in my cabin with Li when suddenly
we heard noises of a racket, swords clanging against other and cannon balls being shot. Li quickly went out.