New Tales of the Gobi Desert
Glenealy School, Inika Shah, Fiction: Group 2
L
egend says that long, long ago the Gobi desert was a sea. If it wasn’t for Hougus, it may
still have remained a sea...
When Hougus was walking to school, he noticed a sign which read: ‘The Great Sea,
3 kilometers.’ He knew that they lived quite close to the Great Sea, but certainly not this
close. Hougus continued walking towards the school but curiousness overtook sensibility and he
inched back. Before he knew it, he was on the other path. The view was stunning, with clear blue
water, millions of plants and fishes at the bottom of the sea and a tiny yellow dot in the distance,
unmistakably, an island. A small bamboo raft was waiting at the banks of the sea. Without
thinking, Hougus hopped onto the raft, gave it a small push and it glided away from the shore.
After bobbing up and down helplessly for some time, Hougus spotted two branches drifting
alongside the raft. They would do as oars, thought Hougus, as he reached out to grab them. After a
few hours of rowing, the island was within sight. His food supply was running low, and there was
only so much water one bottle could hold. So he was really happy at the sight of the island. White
sand, tall trees bulging with numerous coconuts (the many years of climbing with his brothers
would come in handy). Also, humongous pale white spotted eggs were dotted around the beach. A
good breakfast was just what he needed. Only if he could manage to build a campfire to cook...
He kept on daydreaming until a silver darting fish skidded through the water, splashing some
on his head. That’s when he realized that one of his oars had slipped out of his hands. Great,
thought Hougus, how could I be so careless! He anchored his boat at the shore and with his bag on
his back, stepped in the knee-deep water and ventured inland.
It was evening, so he found a dry spot, gathered a few twigs and dry leaves from nearby trees,
to start a fire because it was freezing. Suddenly, he remembered that he had a lighter in his bag,
don’t even ask why. He took the lighter out only to find it soggy and dripping wet. Hougus pressed
the switch and it gave a hopeful spark before dying out. After trying several tries, it finally lit
and before he knew it, the fire was roaring with life. Hougus was so tired that he fell asleep before
he could think about dinner.
The chirping of the birds woke him up at dawn. He decided on an egg and a coconut for
breakfast. Hougus easily scaled a tree and shook the branch so fiercely that a shower of dozen or
so coconuts hit the ground. With a satisfied humph, Hougus came down. He bashed the fruits on
a rock until they all cracked open. After a filling of water and cream from six sweet coconuts,
Hougus had to declare fullness. He decided to skip the eggs for today. Next, Hougus decided to
explore the forest that was deeper into the island, but a deep growl coming from the forest that
sounded suspiciously like a monstrous burp, made him back off. Instead, he explored the beach.
With his feet ankle-deep in the water, he walked along the coastline and skimmed some rocks.
Further into the water, a jellyfish chose that time to attack him. The first thing he did was to
panic. He ran to the beach as fast as his legs could carry him, but his luck didn’t get any better
and he tripped over a rock, falling face first into the sand. Somehow he managed to sit up and
remove the tentacle. Hougus wanted to scream in pain as he applied leaves on the sting and
tended his cuts. Tired from his misadventure, Hougus dozed off into sleep. When he woke up it
was evening. He was not at all in a good shape; the bruises on his arms and legs and the jelly fish
