Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 124

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voyages
Island School, Vaghela, Nishka - 12
So, let's begin with me introducing myself, I'm Luther, half Chinese, half English. I'm 15 years old. I am
travelling on a boat with my dad, who is one of the kings of the area. I have always wanted to sail on a ship,
you know to get the pirate-y feeling, to feel like you own everything. Water has always been one of my
passions. Swimming, boating and all sorts of different adventure, they thrill me. Staying in the water for
loads of hours isn't enough for me, I think that water makes me feel better. Not a lot of people my age like
travelling, they sit around at home and contemplate their lives, while I'm out in the ocean enjoying. Here I
am with adults, eighty per cent o whom I do not know, travelling the most thrilling seas and going to
unknown lands full of dangers. But I don't think of it as something negative, but something to look forward
to, something that thrills me. I am the most athletic one in the family, my two older brothers, they hate the
sea! My mum too, she hates depths, my dad, on the other hand, loves the sea and its dangers and mysteries, I
guess I got that from him. Well, enough talking about me, let's talk about what's currently happening.
The weather is nice, breezy and shiny, perfect for a ship! On the cruise with me, are my dad, my two
brothers and some other landlords and workers. Me being the youngest in the family, am forbidden to
travel, but my dad, the only person who understands how much I love being around water, volunteered to
take me on the ship, he decided that I would be safe as long as I obey him. Well, that's perfect for me! My
brothers didn't want to come along, but according to my dad, they have great navigating skills, so here they
are cursing their fortune and misluck. They have always hated oceans, trust me, I'm NOT exaggerating.
They think there are treacherous creatures, half human and half monsters dwelling in the depths of the
oceans, ready to pounce on any ship that comes near. HAH! What a lie! I never believed it things like that. I
still don't.
The second day on the ocean, perfect weather, beautiful, dazzling sun, and blue skies, way to go! According
to the sun, it's approximately 6:00 in the morning right now. Which means a lot of people haven't woken
up yet, which was perfect. I rushed out of my room, carefully, not waking my brothers up, and grabbed a
towel, an extra pair of shorts and an extra shirt, in case, and a long rope. I ran to the highest point on the
ship, where sailors would stand and look out into the vast ocean in search of land. I carefully and tightly tied
one end of the rope to the ship and threw the other one down into the water. I took my shirt off and
looked around once to make sure no one was awake. We all would eat breakfast at 8 and then everyone was
off to their posts at the ship. People would wake up at 7, which gave me one hour to do whatever I wanted
without any restrictions. I took in a huge gasp of air and then dived into the refreshing ocean waters.
I had always wanted to swim in such waters, so clean and warm, things like this are fun. The one reason I
boarded this ship, was to experience the deep and pretty ocean waters. I took in another gasp of air and
went underwater. The view was perfect, something everyone has to see at least once in their lifetime,
beautiful and colourful fishes, blue water, seaweed floating about and all sorts of wondrous rocks. After
staying underwater for 30 seconds, I had to go up and grab more air. I opened my mouth grasping a big
mouthful of air so that I could stay underwater for longer. Since I wanted to explore further, I tied the rope
to my waist so that I wouldn't get lost. I took in another gasp of air and swam underwater, deeper and
deeper, further and further away from the ship. I saw bigger fishes and more rocks, some of them were
green, some were blue. Oh, how marvellous! I wanted to go further when something squeezed my waist
and pulled me back. It was the rope it had reached its limit. I had to turn back and get back to the ship. Plus
it was getting brighter meaning soon people would start waking up. Note to self - wake up earlier
tomorrow and bring a longer rope. I was also running out of the air. I started floating upwards. "This isn't
fast enough", I said to myself. I started pushing to get upwards faster soon, I made it to the surface and
started panting. I recovered for about 2 minutes before I had to start swimming back to the ship. I used the