Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 179

Two Ladies’ Voices on the Same Wavelength
Munsang College, Lee, Tsz Lok - 13
Scarlett
Rita and I were in the museum, walking with our teacher, Ms Chan, who was leading us onto the tour of
the Treasures of the Ming Dynasty, along with a bunch of classmates who obviously could not take it any
longer. They were about to doze off.
When I touched a glass of this small but delicate drawing, I passed out.
When I came around, it was dawn already. The sun lit the sea up, sending fiery colors to dance on the wide
blue. Rita was sitting next to me, staring at the sea half-heartedly.
'Scarlett, you finally woke up! I don't know where this is, but this doesn't seem 2019!' My tired brain started
to think. There were often rumors that people disappeared in this museum, but...
On this land, the people didn't have houses. Everyone lived in camps and spoke unknown languages.
Suddenly, I heard a familiar sentence of Chinese. That's when I knew, and pulled Rita towards this ship of
Chinese.
How the Chinese got so far, I had no idea. But how I got so far, to a dynasty of China, I was ultimately
muddled.
I was brought to this little room, only enough for two, when I finally looked at my clothes. I was still in my
jeans and T-shirt! How did they not notice a stranger with weird clothing? I decided to experiment with it.
That's why Rita and I were in their food storage, watching the cooks, Chow and Ma, cook. When Chow
came to get the ingredients, he was surprised. But our frantic faces told him that nothing was to be said.
Guess we didn't have invisibility!
Then, Ma came to get him some potatoes. He just seemed that he didn't see us. Interesting. How did Chow
see us?
When the moon, a brilliant silver tonight, shone, and Rita slept, I sauntered to Chow's room. In Chinese,
we talked, and I started to know about him seeing through invisibility.
Chow said that he was on Captain Zheng's ship for all these years, and has been hugely rewarded. The
golden locket he kept in his pocket, a memory from their 3rd Journey, was said to be magical.
Captain Zheng, still a young warrior then, was fighting his way through the treasures of the seas. Through
his last voyages, he gained fame and popularity over the seas. China was a king of the sea because of him.
The 48 ships carrying 28000 people sailed triumphantly through the seas, as their leader, Zheng found
treasures. Not as in only gold and silver, but also friendly bonds with other countries, and gifts from them.
Chow was 20 back then, and remembered Zheng's kindness and yet, superiority that didn't need anger and
punishment.
The most remarkable place was Siam, Chow said. It had a beautiful smell, and the wood was exceptionally
fragrant. Some of the essence was stored in his locket.
He let me smell it. It was kind of like my conditioner, which was weird. Maybe that's the link to him seeing
us.
Continuing the story, Chow said that Captain Zheng gave the Siamese people two silver chops, and that's
how he protected China from the Siamese navy.
The pirates were another story. One with war. But that's a story for another day. Chow was tired. So was I.