Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 130

“We have successfully delivered all the gold to our neighbouring lands and no simple boys can do such things.” I
took a large swig of my beer. “It has of course taken lives and their memories will live on as a part of the Ming
Treasure Fleets that took the first steps to discover the world. We have faced armies and pirates, sicknesses and
storms. Thank you all for being my crew and tomorrow we set sail for China!”
“HIP HIP HURRA-”
LI JIE
Never have I wished so much for the land, to feel the sweet brown soils of home. For on this sea I feel the rage
within as if the ocean is countless tears ready to pound at the feet of man. It is a gale that screams under dark and
serious clouds. Yet the boat sails over these watery fists, perhaps with the intention of causing enough bruising for
the sailors to remember her anger, enough for them to start a sweet serenade of sorrow and a promise of better
care. The sailors had tried to prepare for sudden, violent storms that erupt and cease so quickly, but it is
impossible. Not only the waves but the rain came without warning, pelting the crew like bullets. The worst had
happened after the celebration; with no warning, total darkness prevailed as clouds thickened and the sky was
stricken, blotting out the starlight. Sailors struggled and slipped on the soaked deck: panic had set it. The wind
slammed the rain into our faces as if it were solid matter - my face was raw and the water had filled my eyes.
Somehow, the ship had pressed on, bravely climbing up the waves, and then crashing down in a cascade of wood
and water. It was during one of these heart-stopping plummets that a surge of water broke onto the deck, we
held tightly onto the mast, onto the ropes, onto anything that might save us. The water drained back into the sea,
retreating to its master, but the damage had been done. I felt my fingers slip as I reached out for the captain in
vain. The pull of the water was too strong. I took in a final breath and was whisked away to the deep. The
current twisted my frozen body with the heart-wrenching cold of the ocean while I willed myself to swim
upwards. Losing air rapidly I chose to close my eyes and felt the cold embrace of death strip my soul from my
body. Yu Yan’s sweet voice rung in my water-clogged ears and slowly soothed me to my everlasting sleep.
YU YAN
I knew as soon as the crew walked across the wooden harbour that something was wrong. I arrogantly searched
for his face as the ship’s crew looked at me with such emptiness in their eyes that I knew my life would never be
the same. In that moment of loss my world collapsed - where there was light there became shadows, the pain
coming and going like waves on frigid sand. Though my mind called out for his, the connection was gone... he
was gone... and finally, I knew that my time to be alone had come. I can only pray that we will be reunited in the
next, that God would see fit to give us more time. Li Jie’s memory will live on and for that...I am grateful.