The Gobi Boy
Macau Anglican College, Sophie Hunka, Fiction: Group 2
O
nce in the southern part of the Gobi desert, there lived an American boy called Greg.
How did he get there? You ask well. It all started when he was about ten when his parents
raised enough money to bring him for a family vacation to the Gobi desert in Asia.
They chose this location because there were lots of activities like camel riding and
sand surfing. There were also special kinds of wildlife, like Snow leopards, Takhi, Jerboa, Gobi
bears, Ibex and Marbled Polecats. Greg learnt about them in school so of course he was excited
about this first vacation in his life. Greg was also a little scared because his family was not really
rich. Even though they got the money for vacation, they could only travel by an all-terrain vehicle
(ATV) from Datong in China to the Gobi desert. They travelled days and nights. While they were
driving across the border to the Desert, something happened and that changed Greg’s life.
As they were driving, something big, brown and furry started chasing them. Greg’s dad drove
faster but that something sped up as well and jumped onto his mum who was sitting at the back.
Greg’s dad twisted the ATV but could not shake it off. The beast was turning towards Greg and his
dad. Greg’s dad knew if he stopped the vehicle, all of them would be eaten. He slowed down the
ATV, pushed Greg out and then sped up again, away with the beast.
As Greg recovered from the fall, he realized what had happened to his parents. He had studied
about it in school. It was a Gobi bear which got his parents. He cried at the loss of his parents and
wanted to cry forever. But he knew that wouldn’t help. He tried to remember what he had learnt
about the Gobi desert and “night” came to his thought. Greg had to find shelter quickly or he
would die in the cold and be eaten by the night animals.
Greg started wandering around and at sunset he found a herd of takhi horses. He chose the
calmest and mellowest horse and hopped onto it. He hoped that the horses would head into a
cave to stay for the night. Greg was right. Soon the horses started heading to a cave. In the cave
Greg found a lot of interesting plants and he fell asleep on the softest and most colorful one. In
the morning he was woken up by the trotting horses. He woke up in horror as he watched the
horses trotting away. “Nooooooooo!” Screamed Greg. His only chance of finding civilization went
trotting away in the sunrise.
Greg walked and walked, with no clear direction to go. He was hot, hungry and thirsty. He
recognized some saxaul trees so he got some of the barks and squeezed water from it into his
mouth. Feeling more refreshed, he continued walking until he found some cactuses. Then he
stopped for another rest. Greg used a rock to scratch away the spines and ate the juicy cactus.
After that, Greg kept walking again until it was sunset. In the distance he saw something
blurred. It became clearer as he walked closer. It was a small town in the middle of nowhere. Greg
started running until he ran into the town. The locals there didn’t understand him. Luckily there
were two English immigrants. They came over to check out what happened. Greg told them the
whole story and answered lots of questions. They then took Greg in for food and water. The two
immigrants decided to take in Greg and take him in like he was their own. Since Greg had no
other relatives, he stayed there and learned Mongolian. He spent the rest of his life in the town,
got married and had fourteen kids. He learnt more about the wildlife in the desert and enjoyed his
life in the Gobi.
