On the vast sea, there is a huge wooden boat. Allowed by the relentless lapping of the waves, he has been wandering in the sea and drowning in a vast fog that is impervious to the sun.

From the makeshift crow's nest at the top of the mast of the wooden ship, he hurriedly climbed down the soft ladder to a dark-skinned sailor, his expression tired but excited:

"First mate Morgan, you can see a black dot in the fog directly in front of the wooden boat, like an island!" He shouted excitedly.

A large man with a bloody bandage on his head ran out of the cabin, his eyes dark and his eyes looked very tired. It was followed by a couple of sailors:

"Uli, what do you see? Are you sure you're sitting on an island? ”

"Yes, first mate." Uli said happily.

As he spoke, a gray-haired old man came out from behind, tall and burly. makes him look younger than he really is: "Morgan, what's going on?" ”

"Mr. Captain, Uli said he saw an island ahead."

"Oh!" The captain thoughtfully: "Is there an island?" It seems that my nautical map is not accurate. The captain looked at the front of the ship:

"Morgan, let the sailors rock their oars, target the island, and watch the speed and reef."

"Yes, Mr. Captain."

The sailors took their positions, rowed their oars and fought hard. They have all forgotten the exhaustion after the baptism of wind and waves. Because they believe that there will be a paradise ahead of them, a beautiful paradise.

In the cabin, in a cubicle in the corner of a narrow corridor, an old woman was nursing a little girl lying on a bed. The little girl's black hair was dry, and her eyes were dull and dull. The complexion is yellowish and looks weak. While the old grandmother was arranging the sheets, she struggled to get up and sit on the edge of the bed.

"Gross! Sorry little angel, did it hurt you? Poor little An'an. "The old lady was kind and gentle.

"It's okay, I'm fine. Grandma Shawa, is that pot of flowers I planted blooming? An An asked.

"Not yet, but I promise it won't be long before it opens." Grandma smiled.

At this moment, the upper deck was thumping with the sound of hurried footsteps.

"What's going on up there, Granny Shava?"

"I heard that the captain had found land, and we would be able to go ashore in a moment. This news is very gratifying, thank God. ”

An An's dim eyes immediately showed brilliance.

"Grandma Shava, I'm going down and tell them we're going ashore." She hurriedly put on her clothes and climbed out of bed.

"Hey, slow down, my poor darling." The old woman stretched out her hands to worry that the thin girl had fallen: "Look at you, be careful, you are still sick." ”

Xiao An'an got dressed, hung a fist-sized black cloth bag around his neck, and hurried to the lower cabin. Moving on to the next level of cabins, the compartments on this level are different from the previous one, consisting of numerous fences and cages. It is inhabited not by people, but by a variety of wild animals and even insects.

"Hey! Hello everyone, I have good news for you: we have found an island, and we will be able to go ashore in no time. Happy days are coming, and the world is still the same. ”

As he spoke, a bearded sailor ran in, his expression a hint of anxiety.

"Little girl, what are you doing here? Go back, it's dirty and dangerous. "The sailor grabbed a crow from a cage in the corner and went out. He didn't have time to talk to the little girl a few more words, only a little commotion in the dimly lit fence and cage, but he looked at An An's thin body with blank eyes.

Soon it was dark, and An An returned to her room. Sitting on the bed and holding the mysterious black bag, he dreamed of what he would do when he went ashore. Under the faint oil light, the door of the room was slowly pushed open, and Grandma Sava brought a bowl of steaming Minori porridge.

"Hungry, huh? Eat while it's hot, kid. "Grandma brought dinner as usual.

"Thank you, grandma, have you eaten?"

"Of course you've eaten, you're full, but you haven't eaten."

"It smells so good!" An An said while eating: "When I get better, I will help you work every day and sing to you." ”

Grandma smiled slightly, but she didn't hide the sadness in her eyes.

"Grandma, how far away is the island we found today? Why did an uncle go down to catch crows? ”

"Baby, I'll tell you after eating." An An nodded after hearing this.

Not long after, An An finished eating the porridge, and her grandmother wiped her face with a towel and turned around to leave. An An stopped her and asked, "Grandma, have you forgotten what happened just now?" ”

Grandma turned her head and looked a little helpless: "Child, don't be sad when you say this, the island that everyone found today is lost, and some people say it's called a mirage." ”

"The island will be lost, and who can hide it? What is a mirage? ”

"I don't understand, Captain Locke sent a raven to find the island again. But the crow never returned, probably because it was too stupid to discern the direction. ”

"Grandma, how long have we been on this ship?" An An changed the subject.

"Yo! If you do the math, it's probably more than 150 days. ”

"Thank you, grandma."

"You're welcome baby, rest early, I have to go, good night."

"Good night, grandma." An An was a little sleepy.

Grandma kissed the little girl on the forehead, silently closed the door and left with tears in her eyes.

The next day, when An An woke up, she found that the pot of flowers she had been looking forward to day and night was placed next to her bed, blooming slightly. The faint scent was pleasantly surprised, a small light yellow flower, which was striking even though it was not in full bloom. Like a lively elf, waiting for the owner to wake up from a sound sleep.

"Wow! Flowers are blooming, flowers are blooming! An An was very happy: "Grandma Shawa, the flowers are blooming!" She didn't care about anything, picked up the flower pot and ran out of the house barefoot. She wanted her grandmother to share this happiness together, and a pair of big hands reached out from behind her back like a cat and picked her up. She looked back in surprise to see the bearded sailor looking at her with serious eyes:

"Little princess, don't run too fast. Your illness is not yet cured, so rest more. The bearded man slowly lowered her: "Where do you want to go?" Tell me. ”

"I want to go to Grandma Shawa, she will be happy to see this flower."

"Kid, Grandma Shawa is very busy, I don't have time to see you right now, she has a lot to do, don't bother her and distract her, okay?" There was a hint of anxiety in the bearded man's eyes.

"They call me Rukov, what's your name?"

"An'an, Uncle Rukov."

"What a cute name, go back to the room first, and uncle will get you something to eat."

An An returned to the room with the flower pot, feeling a little lost, where did Grandma Shawa go? It was a bit unaccustomed to a different person, and soon Rukov arrived with a hot potato.

"Little princess, eat quickly." The bearded beard covered most of his face, and he looked quite funny.

"Thank you, Uncle Rukov." An An was indeed a little hungry. Chewing on the potatoes, but reminded her of Grandma Shawa and Minoru porridge, she asked:

"Uncle, can you tell me what Grandma Shawa is up to? How big is this ship? Can I go to her myself? I think I can do something for her. ”

"Grandma Shawa, oh! She was the best webweaver on our boat. The nets she weaved were dense and strong, and they helped us catch a lot of fish.

As for the ship, it has to start with the captain: Locke was a brilliant navigator many years ago. He embarked on an astonishing idea and construction to build the world's largest ship out of Gopher wood, which he thought would bring good luck. The ship was as big as a small castle and had three floors. The top floor is inhabited by people, the middle floor is inhabited by many animals, and the lowest floor is the granary. It took ten years to complete the construction of this large ship. The project was so great that it was later named Ark of Hope. The bearded man said with pride on his face:

"In order to allow the innocent creatures in this beautiful home to survive the flood, the captain gathered many animals and prepared a lot of food and water......

At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open with a creak, and another sailor shouted outside: "Rukov, there is a wheal ahead, come out and help." ”

"Right away." The bearded uncle stopped his speech and left in a hurry after apologizing like a little girl.

An An felt a little lonely alone in the room, so she picked up the flower pot and quietly walked towards the next cabin to talk to the animals.

Coming to this cabin again, it seems that there is a sense of depression and uneasiness here. For the inhabitants who greeted her did not react quite right: the monkeys neighed at her, the birds did not sing anymore, and fluttered at the cages; The bear arched the cage, the leopard paced back and forth restlessly, the elephant's cry shook the deck, the tiger behind her almost grabbed her with its claws stretched out from its cage, she screamed in fear, and no resident would listen to her as calmly as usual.

An An ran around without direction, she felt that it was dangerous here. Out of nowhere, she ran down the stairs to the bottom floor.

When the agitation behind her subsided, she stopped running and gasped for air. I found that the large wooden door in front of me had the characters of the granary written on it. I heard Grandma Shawa say that the granary is usually locked and guarded. Ordinary people are not allowed to enter at will, and no matter how strong the wind and waves are, the gatekeeper cannot leave this door.

An An didn't understand why he ran around and ran to the bottom granary, but why didn't he see the gatekeeper? Where did he go? And there was no lock on the door, curiosity made An An put down the flower pot and pushed the heavy door open.

There were many empty cloth bags scattered all over the place, and large wooden barrels were placed in rows with their lids removed. Well! How could this be: the sacks filled with grain should be empty, and the large wooden barrels filled with fresh water should be empty. It's already an empty granary, so there's no need to be guarded.

It turned out that the Ark of Hope had run out of food. An An understood that in the more than 150 days she was drifting in the sea, no one had let her starve. And she also knew that the inhabitants of the second-floor cabin were uneasy because of hunger. She suddenly admired everyone on the boat and the captain, especially Grandma Shava, who had been guarding her.

An An silently returned to the room, alone in a daze, still at a loss in her heart, and fell asleep unconsciously.