Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 255

“Are you ready?”
No, not really.
“Charge!”
There was an uproar.
Then chaos.
Bombing could be heard in the distance and pirates boarded our ship. Thick smoke and the smell
of gunpowder surrounded us. I felt like choking and my chance of survival seemed bleak. I pulled myself
together and concentrated on keeping my head attached to my body as hard as I can. Feeling a slight motion
on my right— I dodged just in time as a dagger swished past my arm. Before I could even breathe a sigh of
relief, I found myself engaged in combat with a deeply tanned pirate, I swung my spear at him, only to
receive a strike back. We went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth—
I felt a strange sensation in my thigh, like something slid past it. That feeling was then slowly
replaced by growing pain. It took me a while to process what happened. I was cut. I am injured—
I blocked another swing from the pirate, ignoring the pain in my thigh, it hurt but losing my
concentration for even a a fraction of a second would cause me my life. I couldn’t tell how bad the wound
was, nor could I tell how long I’ve been fighting. It felt like hours, and my muscles burned more than my
wound did. The fact that I have not collapsed from blood loss is a good sign that it’s a shallow cut. I can do
this; I can push through this.
I took down pirate after pirate, I didn’t dare stop. As time passed, I started to feel more and more
certain—I allowed a sliver of hope to wedge into my heart, maybe, just maybe, I am going home after all. I
am not sure if that’s true, perhaps it’s just my subconscious comforting me, but I held on. I held on to that
tiny string of hope.
What am I fighting for?
I asked myself the same question I have failed to answer countless times.
My life? My future? My mother?
All I knew was the fact that I wanted to live and go home to see my family again. I guess that’s
why I am fighting.
I am so close. We are all so close. It would be a shame to lose now, would it?
As ships sank beneath the waves; as canons flew across the skies; as metal and steal clashed on the
decks……
I only allowed one thought to stay in my head—
Mother, I am coming home.