Seeing our surprise, the Jerboa beckoned to the other animals. After several moments of
discussion, the Polecat stood on two legs. “We understand that you come from a… place where
animals don’t talk. Am I correct?” Christina nodded, wordlessly. “We also believe that you want
to get back there? So, as we are the “boss animals” around here, we’ve decided that I and a few
others will travel with you through our desert to get you home safely. But there is one condition.”
“Wait, desert? What desert?” I asked. “The Gobi of course!” I was puzzled, but Christina just
wanted to find a way home. “What’s the condition?” she enquired eagerly.
“That tonight, WE WILL PARTY!!!”
Several weird and manic hours later, we crawled to the safety of our rocks (Nara, the Gobi
bear, had propped up huge rocks for us to sleep under, and Nomba, the Gray wolf, had made holes
in the sand as beds). I wondered why these dangerous predators hadn’t eaten us but Bob (Jerboa),
Bobo (Polecat), and Somba (Camel), enlightened me that they were THE party animals of the Gobi
and their main purposes in life were to wear snazzy sunglasses and rainbow afros.
I tossed and turned in my sandy sleeping hole, wondering why the Gobi? until, at around
midnight, it clicked. The sand inside the egg-timer was from our great grandfather’s explorations
to the Gobi! Now that I knew why, I could rest in peace. Before I fell asleep, I found a piece of
paper in my pocket. I put it back. Whatever it was, it could wait till morning.
The next day, we continued our journey bright and early with Bob, Bobo and Somba for
protection. Riding astride Somba, I pulled the paper out of my pocket. Squinting, I read the words.
“Golden Treasure.” The words appeared in golden sparkles, dancing across the paper. “Is this a
riddle?” I asked George and Christina, who were sitting behind me. “GRRRRRR” a deep growling
sound came from behind. We turned around to face…..
A Snow Leopard. Like a black shadow of death, it towered above us. George grinned. He
reached into his back pocket and pulled out…..a cream-puff.
After the blinded monster had fled, in its place we found three lockets, each full of golden
dust. We looked at each other - was this the Golden Treasure? Before we could decide, we found
ourselves back in our living room, still clutching the lockets, which were now completely empty,
as was the egg timer…..There was no crack in the wall, and Prissy-Chrissy had cream on her face.
When I got back to school, this was waiting:
To: Summer
How was your summer? Mine was boring.
From: Gabriella
