In times of darkness, light was brought to the ancient Aztec village  

     of Tenochtitlan by Mo, a legend in history.

     At forty-two years old, Mo had just passed the peak of his 

     life. He was beginning to feel tired and sore all the time, he knew his    

     life was soon to come to a close. Mo had only been the ruler of one 

     of the Aztec empire's city states for a mere six years, never fully  

     gaining the complete trust of his people. 

     Peace had washed over the valley of mexico for years. But people 

     were now becoming restless and wanted change, mo did not. 

     

     It was a warm day on May 5th of 1508, and Mo was enjoying the warm     

     rays of light that rained down from the skies. His people were still 

     rioting in his streets and causing mayhem, but there was nothing that

     could be done. Standing on the top of his tall, stone palace, mo was 

     able to see all that was around him, the tall trees, the birds in the 

     blue skies, his people scattered around Tenochtitlan and his best 

     friend, Bernal Diaz del castillo striding towards him. 

     Castillo told Mo of the troubles running through the city. The riots, 

     the hate, and the petitions for a new ruler. Mo had heard of the riots 

     and hate, but the petitions for a new ruler came as a surprise.

     Another surprise was that the petitions were signed by a majority of 

     Mo's peoples, meaning that he was required to step down. Fear and 

     then rage coursed through Mo's mind. He was to step down, but where

     was he to go. He couldn't stay in tenochtitlan, for the embarrassment 

     was too large. He turned to Castillo for help, looking for an answer.

     Castillo told Mo that the best choice was to leave the valley of 

     Mexico for good, to never turn back and travel the world.

     Mo did not like this idea, but it was all he had. 

     The one thing that mo had never been taught how to do was how to 

     sail a ship. Again Mo asked for the help of his friend. The great 

     Castillo once more gave mo great advice, he told Mo that he and Mo

     would travel the sea together on one of his very own ships. 

      

     It was decided! Mo and Castillo would set off the very next day. Not 

     knowing when he would return, if ever, mo packed all his belongings. 

     Castillo was able to retrieve some maps of the world from some

     merchants passing through the valley. Together, Mo and Castillo

     decided that they would head for italy. Their trip would take 

     many weeks, and months if the weather was in a bad state. 

  

     On the next day, Mo headed to Castillo's ship around midmorning. 

     Castillo had arranged for a small crew willing to leave the valley

     of mexico for a long time, if not forever. When Mo arrived at the 

     dock it was already nearing night. All Castillo's and the crew's 

     belongings had been loaded onto the ship the night before. 

     As Mo boarded the ship, the sun set over the horizon, leaving a cool

     sea breeze behind. Mo could just see the tips of the Aztec pyramids

     as the santa MAria left the coast of Mexico. 

     The Santa Maria travelled for weeks, rarely ever seeing land. 

    Once, two weeks into the trip, the crew spotted a land mass 

    seemingly drifting on the ocean's surface. The small, peaceful         

     land mass reflected a god-like light onto the hull of the

     Santa Maria, leaving the crew, Mo and Castillo feeling enlightened 

     and airy. The island was just big enough to accommodate the twenty-

     some people aboard the ship, so Castillo and Mo opted to stay the

     night. When they left early the next morning, Mo watched the palm 

     trees sway in the wind, hoping he could return one day.

     When the Santa Maria finally docked in italy, Mo, Castillo and the crew 

     were thin, hungry and sunburnt. Mo and Castillo set out to find food 

     to send to the crew when they stumbled upon a great mass of people

     gathered around some sort of a exhibition. They pushed to get a 

     closer view and saw what all the commotion was about. In the centre 

     of a hand drawn circle stood a giant wooden contraption. along the   

     edge ran a pile of iron balls. The people were chanting a name, or 

     what sounded like one. It sounded something like "leonardo da Vinci",

     but in a heavy Italian accent. At that moment a man around mo's age, 

     with a long white beard, walked in to the circle. 

     "Welcome my friends!" Called the man, likely da Vinci. "Today I bring to 

     you my newest invention!" He pointed towards the contraption. "The 

     tank!" He shouted at last. The people around Mo and Castillo burst 

     into applause and cries of delight. 

     Mo saw a piece of aged parchment floating through the air above his 

     head. He reached out and grasped the crinkly paper. It was a paper 

     copy of the plans for the "tank". Mo hastily stuffed the paper in his 

     european style clothing. Mo and Castillo left, not paying any 

     attention to the screaming hordes of people swarming around them. 

    

     They returned to the ship with bags of food. THey carried a variety of 

     fruits, piles of dried meats and vegetables of every kind. THey also 

     had a variety of pastries to try for lunch. 

     After their hearty lunch, they all took a slight rest to regain their 

     energy. Mo had trouble sleeping, thoughts about how his city was 

     coping without him blurred his mind. Eventually, after the noise of

     men on the upper decks rummaging for food lowered, mo was able to 

     sleep. 

     Mo woke early the next morning, before the sun had risen. With his 

     mind foggy and his body sore, he clambered up to the kitchens and     

     scoffed down a vine of beautiful, white, italian grapes. The burst of  

     sweetness overwhelmed mo, leaving him longing for more. Mo looked   

     out onto the horizon, where the sun was just peeking over the line  

     that separated the sky from the water. Mo stared at the sun as it rose     

     for at least an hour. WHen he came to, the upper deck was bustling 

     with activity. Mo new that the santa maria was leaving that day, but he 

     wished he could stay in the magical, beautiful, italy. 

     It had been a few weeks since they had left italy and the only problem

     they had run into was a gargantuan wave that was headed straight 

     towards the hard run santa maria. Not much damage had been caused

     and no lives were lost. 

     land could now been seen in the distance and the waves stayed at a

     reasonable height. Castillo had assumed the land mass to be china or

     india. Each day they strode a little closer to the land, looking for 

     hints of their location. On the fifth day of closing proximity they 

     found a were greeted by a mass of floating candles covered by paper    

     orbs  to create a misty light effect. 

     From books that had been collected throughout their journey. MO and

     Castillo were able to identify the land they passed each day as China.

     

     They stayed close enough to the coast of china that they were able to

     see land, but far enough away that they did not cause any trouble

     with the chinese. They travelled like this for a few weeks, then on one 

     of the long, painful days, they saw a bump in the horizon ahead of them.

     As the days went by, the bump in the horizon steadily grew in size. 

     Finally mo and Castillo were able to identify the bump as the island of

     japan. According to the books, japan was in isolation from other 

     civilizations and had a distinct and unbleached culture. 

   

     When they were finally able to see, or what seemed like, a port city 

     they closed in, hoping to be allowed to dock. A large, arch like      

     structure loomed in front of them, which Castillo named a "torii". 

     A torii supposedly marked the entrance of a religious meeting place.    

     Soon they were able to see a large temple situated on the top of a   

     large hill.

     They passed the torii and soon found themselves the centre of 

     everyone's attention. They sailed along the coast and were capable 

     of hearing hushed whispers in fast and foreign voices. 

    

     The Santa Maria slowly moved into an empty dock and mo and Castillo,

     with an armed crew member, exited the ship to hopefully communicate

     with someone to find out where they were. Eventually, mo and 

     Castillo were able to put a name to the odd place they were docked. 

     NAgasaki, japan. They had docked in the port city of nagasaki, japan. 

     Located on the coast of kyushu, one of the japanese islands. 

     Mo and Castillo were able to find a place to stay the night with the 

     help of an in hiding japanese local. 

     Once they were well rested and fed, mo and Castillo split up.    

     Castillo set off to find some supplies that were needed to repair the

     santa maria. Mo, on the other hand, went off to explore the strange

     country of Japan. throughout his gallivant, mo saw a series a 

     extravagant buildings and beautiful gardens filled with cherry trees,

     teeming with silky, pale pink blossoms of freshness. Japan was a 

     truly beautiful place. 

   

     When mo returned to the dock, Castillo had repaired all the damage 

     done and the ship was ready to go. Castillo and the crew were all 

     feverish and anxious to leave the bizarre country of japan. Mo was 

     against leaving, but he was out voted.

     Mo was able to convince Castillo to let them stay one more night,

     but they were to set out from nagasaki early the next morning. 

     When morning came, the crew had been out preparing the ship for

     departure for at least a few hours already. 

     Mo sat entangled in the rigging, watching little figures scuttle 

     around down below. From this high up mo was able to look far into

     distance. He could see the temple they sailed past on their first day

     in japan. He could see the tips of mountains far away, little huts and 

     farms plastered into the hillside. To the east, water was to be seen

     for as far as the eye could see. 

     

    When the santa maria set off there carried an extra passenger. Mo had

    taken a great liking to the nice japanese lady-in-hiding that had lent 

    them her home. Mo had offered to let the lady travel with them. SHe

    had accepted. 

    

    Mo and Castillo had decided that they would return to tenochtitlan to

    see if they were welcomed, if not Castillo and his crew would 

    continue their travels and mo and Chika, the japanese lady's name, would

    return to the nice, tropical island they first passed months ago.

    

    For weeks they travelled, hitting storms and land along the way. 

    Whenever land was near, mo and Chika would stop to collect foreign

    items to furnish their island and create their home. 

    

    When the santa maria neared the valley of mexico mo and chika decided

    that they did not want to return at all. THey wanted to start a new 

    life on the beautiful, drifting island, which they named nami-ha. Which

    chika told mo meant wave in japanese. Mo very much liked this name. 

  

    Mo and chika said their goodbyes when they reached the island of 

    nami-ha. Castillo promised to visit occasionally. 

    Together, mo and chika waved off the santa maria. the ship that had been

    mo's home for many months sailed off into the sunset. What a 

    beautiful sunset it was. 

    

    Mo and chika spent the rest of their long lives on the beautiful 

    island of nami-ha. There they had many kids, grew food on their farms

    and were often visited by the constantly travelling Castillo. 

    Together, mo and chika lived happily ever after, their legend 

    remembered. 

   The end