Shortlisted
The Tale of the Gobi Desert
Kennedy School, Leia Green, 9
Chapter 1
W
here am I?
“Are we there yet,” moaned Jack. “ Can’t you wait a little longer,” replied Katy,
“we’ll be at the motel in about an hour”. “But can I just ask you one little question
Katy?” pleaded Jack. “Fine, go ahead, what is it?” she said. ”Okay, why is there a
huge, fierce and scary sand storm coming right our way?”
Katy and Jack watched the big gush of sand in silence as it started to creep up on them, it
came closer and closer and… “Quick Jack! Duck down as low as you can!”. Sand came gushing
into the car and the wind was like a tornado and then…
“What’s going on,” Jack whispered and tried to stand up. Jack looked up but all he could
see was sand and more sand. “ Where am I?” Jack puzzled and then he froze, where was Katy?
“Katy!” Jack screamed as loud as he could, but it was useless, he was in the middle of nowhere
with no food or water, his only choice was to walk on in the burning heat. As he walked the sun
poured on the young boy giving him sunburns all over his body. He was thinking about where
Katy was, but his main concern was what would happen to him. He soon realized that the burns
from the sun were the most painful things he had ever experienced. I need to protect myself, this
is a really dangerous climate. I need shelter. Jack found some dried up twigs on the desert ground,
then he found a cactus to lay the sticks on. He laid them down one by one and when he finished
he crawled under the shelter.
He fell fast asleep and when he woke up, the sun was setting and the moon was rising up from
the Twin Mountains. Jack ran outside. The sky had turned a beautiful orange pink and the clouds
were the color of wonderful lavender purple but Jack knew he had to get back into his shelter
before it became dark. When he was inside his stomach started to grumble, he was starving! He
knew he couldn’t hunt for food right now. It was pitch black outside. Jack’s only choice was to
sleep. As he snored on the sand, it started to pour down with rain. When he woke up he didn’t
feel the scorching sun baking on his face but a nice cool breeze. He crawled out of the shelter
and looked up. It was amazing! The orange dawning sun rising from the Twin Mountains was
just like sunset! And there were flowers of blue, violet and pink blooming all over the cacti. Jack
found another stick and started sharpening it with a rock and when he was done he needed to go
and hunt. He had his weapon, he had his bravery, and he was ready. He started walking silently,
looking carefully at the sand. Suddenly something moved. Jack gasped, and then he saw that it
was a mouse! The white body scurried across the sand frightened as if something was chasing it.
Jack tried to spear but missed, he tried again and… BINGO!!! “Mouse soup for dinner tonight!” But
there was something that was chasing the mouse, a rattlesnake.
Chapter 2
A camel saves the day!
Jack stood there frozen with fear. The rattlesnake slithered nearer and nearer but it stopped inches
