New Tales of the Gobi Desert Division 2
Kennedy School, Clovis Mak, Fiction: Group 2
B
efore Callum set off on his journey, experts told him what to expect in the Gobi Desert…
Callum rode on his trusty horse in the Gobi Desert. It was a large desert region located
in Asia. The wind blew dust, sand and gravel on his face, but that didn’t matter. He was
exploring the non-polar desert when a wild storm blasted him off his horse and on the soft,
burning sand and as he tried to get back up on the sand, he found a strange map with some words:
“To prevent war from spreading, head to the dune with the glowing silver light. Head North.”
Callum had thought about it for a while and then he changed his direction and headed north.
On his way he was wondering what was happening at that strange dune: Was there a dispute
over there? What was the reason that soon there would be war? Or were the words even real? He
realized that he would have to keep on going even if the words were fake because that was the only
way to go on the map. He caught sight of a small pack of Bactrian camels that were taking a drink
from a small waterhole. Suddenly, he caught the glimpse of a glowing silver light in the distance.
Was it the strange dune? Callum clicked his heels on his horse’s sides as his horse started to
gallop faster. On the way, he saw a scared black-tailed gazelle running away from the 300 metre
high dune. Intricate patterns lay on the soft, wispy sand. He finally arrived at the top of the dune.
Looking down, he gasped : A large row of fearsome tents had been set down on either side of a
long, flowing river, and angry soldiers were pouring out of the tents! Callum left his horse on the
dune and scrambled down to where the tents were.
He ran over to a man that looked like a leader and asked : “What is happening here?” The
leader replied:
“There is a long river here, and both of our camps want to have the river included in our
territory, and none of us shall retreat.”
Callum yelled back:
“What! You can’t just because of a river then you go to war! You could try to persuade them to
share the river with you!
The leader was embarrassed : “I didn’t really think of that, but water is scarce in deserts so
that’s why we want it in our territory.”
Callum sighed: “Now you know, then go over there to stop the fighting, look, both sides have
started fighting already!”
The leader called all his armored troops to stop the fighting and to make a strong barrier shield.
Negotiations started after a while and soon relaxed soldiers were walking back to their tents. Soon
as there was peace near the riverside, Callum kept going forward and smiled to himself.
As he continued on his tiring journey, he helped many other people that made large
arguments just because of a little thing. Weather wasn’t that welcoming, with very various
temperatures that ranged from the afternoon and night. At night, Callum wrapped himself up
tightly as the howling wind whooshed by. In the hours of the day, the sun glared down at him
with unbelievable heat while travelling. The road was long and he needed suitable resources as
winds could be as faster than 120 kph, but the different people that he helped always helped him
back, making his journey quite safe indeed. Desertification made the desert expand after periods
of time. As the Gobi Desert bordered Mongolia and marts of China, it took quite a long time to
