The Gobi Desert
Bradbury School, Thierry Lau, Fiction: Group 2
T
he dusty sands of the Gobi Desert drifted past the camels as they trotted along together.
The riders, a family, rode on the camels. The father was called John, and the mother was
called Jane. They both had dark stringy hair. John wore a plain white overall and a pair
of black trousers. Jane had a striped blue and brown apron, which matched her dress as
well. Today her hair was tied back in a bun. Their son, a mischievous ten year old boy, rode on the
last camel. Unlike his parents, he had dark olive skin and smooth blonde hair. His name was Jack.
Jack heard a loud whistle from the direction of the sunset. He cocked his head to his left and
stared at the tiny yellow ring of fire on the horizon. He thought he saw a flicker of yellow in the
light. “Mama! Papa!” he called, “Look over there!” He pointed to his left. His parents both climbed
off their camels. John squinted carefully in the direction that Jack had pointed to. Suddenly he
turned and shouted: “Go! It’s a sandstorm!” Jack’s parents hurled themselves onto their camels and
took off. They didn’t notice Jack going off towards the approaching wall of spinning sand. He sped
forward, targeting the darkness in the sandstorm. But soon the camel was too scared and shook
him off. Jack fell on the hard rocks of the desert and blacked out.
He woke in the dark, smelling the scent of fresh herbs and grass. “Where am I?” he muttered
to himself, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He appeared to be on the ground of a cave, a room
perhaps? “In my cave.” Answered an old and cracked voice. An old man covered with many
wrinkles stepped out of the shadows. Jack questioned: “Where are my parents?” The old man’s
face darkened. “I do not know.” He replied gravely. Jack stayed with the old man for many days,
whose name was apparently Zhang. Soon after a week, Jack began to feel homesick and said he
needed to go and find his parents. Before Jack left, the old man gave him a golden ring encrusted
with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The old man said: “Please do me a favor. Before you go off
and look for your parents, think of the year 1816. Then press this diamond button here and you
will go back in time to 1816. After that, find the Coronation Hall and steal the crown when the
evil King Nar Yi will be crowned. Then return back and bury the crown and ring very deep.”
After a lot of thinking, Jack finally agreed and slipped on the ring. He left Zhang’s dark cave,
thought of the year 1816 and pressed the button.
Instantly, the land spun around and became a blur. He felt dizzy and disorientated. Jack landed
in a field of mud and peaceful sheep. He slumped over, only seeing stars. Then he closed his eyes
for the second time that day. When Jack opened his eyes, he felt the sheep nuzzling him awake.
They were skinny and looked poor – fed. They ran around him as if wanting food. He fished out
the grass he had took from Zhang’s cave and fed it to the sheep. The sheep baaed at him gratefully.
Jack ran out of the field and looked for the Coronation Hall. He sprinted there and fro,
frantically searching everywhere. After a long and tiresome hour, he found it. The Coronation
Hall was located south – east in the city. The hall was a monstrous wooden structure towering
high above the cowering tiny houses. Its roof spiraled up, creating the genuine look of a drill. Jack
entered and spotted a sign reading: CORONATION HALL OF QUPEN.
Now you may be thinking what is Qupen? The answer is basically Gobi. Go in Chinese is Qu,
and Bi in English is Pen. Jack found a staircase going upstairs and decided to have a look on the
floor above. On the way, he whisked a long rope form a nearby stand and tied it into a lasso. As
