Ocean of Nothing

He woke with a nauseous feeling in his stomach. As he reached for his bucket his head exploded with pain. Violently, he lurched into the depths of the pail.

Cheng Fu looked around at his simple house. His father and grandfather built the house with their own hands. Now with his father dead the government was forcing the bills, that his father had kept hidden, on the small family. His mother vaguely knew what was happening. Xiang Fu was so depressed she didn’t even have the willpower to blink. With the last few coins Cheng bought a servant for her.

Shou Wang had taken over the family. Born into a poor family she greatly desired wealth. When Cheng hired her she quickly became the backbone of the family. Though the Fu’s were poor they were a profound family with a deep history. All she needed to do is to get rid of the boy.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Cheng! Open the door!” shouted Shou.

Cheng opened the door and gently bowed when he saw who he was. With a knot in the bottom of his stomach he led him inside.

“Cheng, please go watch over your mother please while I talk to the official.”

“But I hired you to-” Cheng started

“Cheng! Stop this nonsense now! I’m sorry Captain Hai, please continue.”

Confused and furious, Cheng didn’t know what to do. His mind swirled and swirled. Focusing his thoughts on his mother he cared for her. He knew she couldn’t hold on forever.

After over an hour the commander left and Shou called Cheng over.

“Before I speak I want you to understand I’m only trying to help you. I don’t want this family to disappear. Your father dying was unfortunate but you need to move on.”

Cheng nodded slightly.

“First you must tell everyone I am your father’s sister. I was not publicly sold so not many will know me.”

Cheng nodded not believing what he had just heard.

“You will need to work, I can not care for your mother and work at the same time. You will leave tomorrow on a fleet of boats on a trading expedition to a new found land. Some call it India but no one knows for sure.”

“No! I will not go! I am the man! I make the rules!” shouted Cheng.

“You are hardly a boy! Only 12 moons old!” retorted Shou. “Besides I already signed you up. If you back out now they will kill you.”

Cheng ran his room screaming and crying. Crying for his father. Crying for his mother. Crying for his sister that died before she was born. Crying for himself.

“ How can you run a family if you cry about your father that died 5 months ago!”

Cheng cried himself to sleep while Shou yelled at him.

As he drifted into slumberland his father appeared before him.

“You will get through. You will get through.” His father repeated over and over.

Cheng didn’t understand, he yelled but nothing came out. Suddenly his father trembled, a whale ripped out of his chest and jumped toward Cheng. Cheng tried to get out of the way but couldn’t. It was the biggest whale he had ever seen. Occasionally he saw a pod of humpback whales, but this was a blue whale. As he braced for impact, he woke up sweaty. It must have been just before sunrise. He gathered his things and kissed his mother. A tear slid down her cheek.

“Hang in there. I shall be back.” He whispered.

Walking through the market he bought a bowl of rice with some coins he found on the street. Cheng had done labor before but with his father a government official he didn’t do much. His father had always been a little different in his way of thinking such as consulting his mother on large decisions. Maybe this way had been too much for other people. No proof was found but he and his mother knew the truth. He had been poisoned.

Standing in line to know his role on the ship was extremely stressful. Next to men twice or even three times his size made him feel like an ant among giants. The Captain looked tough but when he saw Cheng his eyes softened.

“Cheng?”

“Yes Captain.”

“You will be Captain Feng’s assistant. Call me sir. You can write?”

“Yes sir” His father had demanded he learn. His son was going to be someone above besides a peasant. If he only saw what he was doing now he would be furious.

“Please follow him to your cabin.”

Cheng had been so nervous about what he was going to be he didn’t even see the huge boats. Even with only three ships it looked like three giant dragons resting on the water, their wings folded back.

“Cheng, hurry up!” Feng shouted. Cheng realized he saw a wall in front of the boats.

“How are we going to get off the harbor?” Cheng questioned.

“New invention called canal locks.” Feng replied. “The water goes down on the other side while our water goes up.”

As Cheg stepped on the boat he noticed the beautiful artwork on the boats. So simple but elegant. Harmony with nature. The Yin and Yang was something his father always believed in. No good without bad. No light without darkness. No rainbow without rain.

Feng handed him a blank scroll and a stylus.

“You start work tomorrow. Your cabin is first on the left.”

By the second day out on sea they realized a typhoon was coming. Everyone was on deck, excluding Cheng. He had been chosen to document the storm. With his hand trembling he wrote of the force of the wind, the thunder that never seemed to end, and the crew flung around the deck like pebbles. In the morning they were split from the other ships but Feng said to follow through with the expedition to India.

The next few weeks went by very fast. Everyday was the same, wake, write, eat, sleep. The food was average, usually rice with soy sauce and meat. The captains and officials ate monkey, duck, and pig knuckles. Captain Feng always bragged about what he ate, it seemed that he bragged about everything. His robes, made of the finest silk, his family, cousins of the emperor. It was this attitude that made Cheng do something that would change everything.

Cheng noticed that every night Feng would retire to his cabin, expecting Cheng to pick up his robes. Every so often Cheng would find a coin or two in the pockets. So one night Cheng took the coins. To his horror they were gold coins, the most valued coins. The next morning Feng screamed with such fury the crew thought he had been murdered. Of course he hadn’t and Cheng was charged with theft. Usually he would have spent the journey in a secluded room, but Feng demanded death. While his head was pinned on the deck ready to be decapitated, he heard a sound. It was like a song and a cry at the same time. Suddenly the deck tilted and at least ten men fell off.

The whale was huge and as it flopped on the deck Cheng knew who it was. He remembered the dream as he held on for dear life. Then he saw a lifeboat. With a water pouch and a compass he found near some rope, he jumped in. Suddenly he saw Feng storming across the almost vertical boat. Cheng punched him across the face as hard as he could and he passed out. Cheng released the pulleys and the boat fell in with him in it.

Three weeks later Cheng was almost dead from dehydration. Rationing the water didn’t help either. Only the compass gave him hope, pointing him constantly east . As if it appeared out of nowhere, he saw land. Dragging his boat on the beach he passed out from exhaustion.

He awoke in a jail cell. Finding a bowl of water next to him he drank it and banged on the bars. A guard came running.

“Why am I in here?” Cheng wailed.

“You are charged with sinking Captain Feng’s boat. You are awaiting execution.” stated the guard.

When the words sunk in he sobbed, but he couldn’t let his self-pity weaken him. While the guard was standing with his back to the wall, Cheng slowly took the keys out of his robe. He unlocked the door. The soldier hit hard but Cheng hit him harder and he passed out. Quietly he ran out of the building and down the road. But nothing looked familiar. He asked a beggar why everything looked so different.

“The government has changed. The emperor is now Zhao Kuangyi.”

What? This couldn’t be. Cheng then remembered the rebellion in Shandong that weakened the government in that area. Running as fast as he could he came to his once flourishing village. It looked like no one had been there for ages. The buildings were black, most likely from a fire. Then he saw his house, on the peninsula like it alway was. As he walked inside he saw a figure. A charred skeleton. His mother. He screamed because he knew it was her. By her high cheekbones and unbound feet. Cheng sobbed uncontrollably until he ran out of tears. Day by day, Cheng died inside and then he did die.

The End