Midnight Crossing

Paddling the waters of Hong Kong
By Antonio Graceffo

An unemployed travel writer and former merchant seaman, I was bumming along the coast near Hong Kong’s Deep Water Bay, when I stumbled onto a sign which read “Boat trip around the world, only $100 HK.” Having nothing to keep my interest on shore, and very little money in my pocket, I signed on. Next thing I knew, I was chained to an ore. Behind me, a large scary fat man, dressed only in a loincloth, pounded a drum, timing the rowers. Missing a beat was punished with a sharp whip-crack, between the shoulder-blades. Filled with fear and trepidation, I watched the bright lights of my beloved city disappear in the boat’s rearview mirror. After a year of unimaginable privation and torture, we returned to Deep Water Bay.

As the shackles were being removed from my wrist, I turned to one of the other rowers and said, “I can’t believe they charged a hundred dollars, but then made us do all the work.”