Shortlisted
Shifting Sands
Discovery College, Mia Mueller, 9
H
ello Father.” said Alex Hougland who just came home.
“Hi Alex,” said Alex’s father, Erik Hougland quietly.
He was a very restless man, his wife died in a car crash when Alex was two. That
changed his life forever. Alex had now finished college and was ready to start a new
life. He still longed for a relationship with his father.
One night when his Father was sleeping, Alex crept into his Father’s study and picked up a
piece of paper filled with scribbles. He held his candle up to it and read some of his notes. At first,
it didn’t make any sense because he didn’t know what it was about, so he continued reading. He
realised that his father was writing about his trip to the New Gobi Desert.
He was shocked. “How could he do this to me?” he thought, “Is he committing suicide or
something?” He had a thousand questions in his head. Did he even know that it was the most
dangerous desert in the world? There were sandstorms every couple of hours and snakes with
venomous bites! Most of all, there were pyramids that looked beautiful and lured you inside, only
to find yourself in a twisting tunnel, unable to come out.
He read some more. All of a sudden, he turned white and froze; he saw the date when his
father would leave at the top of the page. It said, “ Twenty-fourth of April 1960- but that’s
tomorrow!”
It was 11:00 at night and he had to do something fast. He paced back and forth in his father’s
study and picked up the piece of paper and saw what he needed for the trip. He loved his father,
and didn’t want him to die. He stared at the paper, for it was the most important decision of his
life.
He checked where to meet his tour guide. It hit him. If he did this, he would save his Father’s
life and would appreciate him more. Ever since his mother died, his father lost interest in him and
was never able to look him in the eye. He decided to prove himself to his father. He left a note on
the dining table, telling where he had gone. He quickly, but quietly crept into the storage room,
packed what he needed and was ready to meet up with his tour guide at the town square. He was
scared but determined. He clutched his paper, took a last look at his house and was gone.
At the Town Square, he found the tour guide that his father had hired.
“Hello Mr. Erik Hougland.” Greeted Fred.
“Um, hi”, Alex answered.
“Please call me Fred, Mr. Hougland”, Fred replied confidently.
“Ok, you can call me Al… oh wait, Erik”. He struggled to say.
Arriving at the desert, Fred bought three camels; one for Alex, one for himself, and one for
luggage. They loaded the camels and got ready to travel. For the rest of the journey, they went
through the desert slowly, cautious not to be harmed by dangerous animals. Upon reaching the
campsite, they tied up their camels, scrambled into their tents and slept.
Morning came. They were ready to explore what Alex’s father had organized. Before they
went into the pyramid, they took pictures of the animals they saw. Alex realized that the animals
were poisonous, but were scared of the camels, so they were safe.
Later, they were ready to explore the dangerous pyramid, The Pyramid of Cheops. It looked
“
