Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 310

“Now, go back to your…” Splash! Zheng He was interrupted by huge tide of seawater banging the side of
the ship and shaking the entire ship. Nearby, waves doubling the height of the fleet’s largest ship were
marching towards the ship. It didn’t took long to figure out what was happening. The tides were raging and
was broad enough to destroyed all the things that were preventing its passage. If the wave hit the boat, it
would be the last time everyone would see the ocean. No one wanted to fell down to the depth of an
unknown ocean, possibly million miles from home. It was the first tsunami Zheng He ever encountered, so
he was stiff with fear. People were too scared and scattered everywhere, with only the calmer ones preparing
for the natural assault by tieing the ships together and moving things from the top deck to the lower decks.
All of them were praying to escape this disaster. Zheng He was confused and helpless like everyone else,
too. What could he do? It was already too late to turn back: the waves were now getting higher and higher.
Anxiety and fear filled Zheng’s mind. Ma Huan yelled and ordered, “Sailors, increase the speed of the ship
to maximum! We must move fast to escape the tsunami!” Sure, it was risky,but it was an effective way to
avoid the disaster. Once the sailors heard the order, some of them even raced to the lifeboats so they could
sail them to the ship in the frontmost, hoping to get on board it to increase the chance of survival. Zheng
He could now feel the ship travelling faster and faster. Luckily, the wind was helping too. The nearest wave
was about 20-second distance away when the ships’ speed met its maximum. It seemed they might escape
when they heard a huge explosion and felt rumbles from the depths below. They then knew that the worst
was yet to come.
The waves splashed against the ship with a huge BOOM and formed a mushroomed-shaped water cloud,
and suddenly a huge ball of lava burst through the sea surface like a shooting fireball. The stunning scene
froze the crew with a contrasting scene of fire and water. The fireball struck the surface, splashing waters still
sizzling with heat. As the volcano erupted, it shook the earth and caused a more intense tsunami. Sending
larger waves one by one, each arriving faster and faster, all missing the fleet. The crew however, had a more
pressing issue. Lava balls were shooting across the sky falling all around them. Most of the them missed the
fleet, but several almost hit the main boats at the front while one of them hit the last boat, setting it on fire.
Fortunately, all of the sailors on it had already evacuated to larger boats. The goods from Aden was not that
lucky and were burnt to ashes on the boat. In this desperate and fatal situation, they had no choice but just
ignore it until the fire itself burns out. Eventually, they left behind the volcanic eruptions and huge waves
stopped. As soon as possible, they started their job of recovery.
It was a hard getting through, but the whole fleet sighed in relief. Soon they arrived their destination,
Mogadishu, and were ready to start the next page of their adventure.