The Gifts of the Gobi Desert
Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Chung Yuen Ching Eunice, Fiction: Group 2
A
long, long time ago, Gobi was not a desert. Instead, it was a gloomy land of
stalagmites, rocks, and poisonous reptiles.
A messenger from Jinta ran across Gobi to deliver an important parcel for the
Mongolian princess, Modun. The brave messenger was named Chanyu. When he
jogged across the forsaken land, he accidentally stepped on a rattlesnake. It lashed out its long,
claw-like fangs, dripping with poison. He yelled in fear.
“Don’t touch me!” he screamed.
But the rattlesnake didn’t care because it didn’t understand Mongolian. Chanyu stamped on its
head and tied it to a stalagmite. That attack made him weary, so he brought out his supplies and
started to eat a hasty meal, and kept on walking.
After one week of walking, eating, and resting, he collapsed at the door of the Khara Khoto palace.
The princess was as gorgeous as the legends say. She was wrapped in silk robes, as colorful
as any rainbow in the sky. Despite her face having no makeup, she still looked dazzling. As they
always say: natural beauty is the best.
“Your Majesty Princess Modun, here is your requested parcel.” He backed away and bowed.
The princess smiled. “Thank you, Chanyu. You have done me a great service.”
Chanyu gasped. How did she know my name?!
The princess seemed to read his thoughts. “I am a sorceress, brave one. I finally have the final
ingredient to finish the Potion of Ten Wishes: a witch’s brain!”
GROSS!!!!! Chanyu’s mind screamed.
Princess Modun opened the parcel and put the brain into a bubbling golden cauldron. She
chanted an ancient spell, and green smoke billowed out.
“Chanyu, name your three wishes. Oh, and don’t say I’m not worthy, Your Majesty!”
I was about to say that! How on earth did she know?!
“Chanyu! Stop thinking that! I am a sorceress, of course I know!”
A really charming princess! Chanyu thought. What did he want most?
He thought about Gobi. It was a really dangerous place. As he was a messenger, he needed to
go out and in all the time. Why not make it more pleasant?
“Princess Modun, I have decided two wishes. My first wish is to let the stalagmites and
poisonous reptiles in Gobi to be buried by a thick layer of soft sand. Let Gobi become a mixture of
sand and sea.”
Her Majesty hurried over to the cauldron, scooping up a goblet of frothy potion. “Hold on to
that thought. Remember, there is no turning back. Drink this.”
She handed him the goblet. He held his breath and drank the potion. It tasted like sand and
water, just as his wish. It occurred to him that he was drinking witch brain.
Suddenly, the sky started showering sand and water over Gobi. After a few minutes, Gobi was
a desert of sand. As the sky rained water, sometimes an oasis would appear.
Chanyu was delighted. But there were no greens.
“My lady, may I take another goblet of Wishing Potion?”
Princess Modun didn’t reply.
