New Tales of the Gobi Desert
S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, To Shing Hei, Fiction: Group 2
O
n my 10th birthday, my mother gave me three presents: a hamster, a cage for it and a
book about deserts. The hamster was brown and white, with two small dark eyes and a
fat tummy. The pet shop owner told her that this cute little pet was one year old. I was
very happy with these presents because I liked hamsters very much. I named it Jerry. I
thought it liked its name too! On that day, before dinner, I brought my presents to my bedroom. I
looked at the book for a while and watched Jerry climb the wheels in the cage. By watching Jerry
play over and over, I fell asleep…
‘The night has come. How come Mum did not switch the light on?’ I woke up and rubbed
my eyes. When I got used to the darkness, I discovered that I was not in my room. Instead, I
was outside in the open area. By the dim light of the stars above in the sky, I saw the place was
covered in sand, rocks and cactuses and some camels were resting in a station. Luckily for me,
Jerry was sleeping in my arms and the book was inside my backpack.
‘Where are we?’ I asked myself. ‘We’re in the Gobi Desert,’ Jerry answered. ‘What? And why
can we communicate in words?’ I was confused by my present situation. Jerry looked at me.
‘Steven, are you alright?’ ‘I feel alright, just curious why we’re here and why we can understand
each other so perfectly?’ ‘I don’t know what happened. I was turning my wheel when I felt kind
of dizzy. It appears that I unlocked a passage to the future. And here we are, in the desert in Year
3000. That’s what the camels over there told me.’ ‘Wow! That’s brilliant!’ I cried out excitedly.
‘Let’s explore the place around us.’ I suggested.
As Jerry could talk to the camels, I knew that the station was a restaurant. I entered the
restaurant with Jerry inside my pocket and checked if I could have some food. The shopkeeper
was a pretty woman. ‘Anything I can help you with, boy?’ she asked. ‘Hi, I am Steven. Um…I’m
hungry but I have no money.’ I replied shyly. ‘That’s okay. I am Daisy, and I can give you some
capsules for free,’ she said kindly. I said, ‘Thanks a lot, but I have a hamster with me. Can you
give it some food too?’ ‘No problem. I like hamster, too.’ Daisy agreed.
At first, I thought eating capsules was yucky. However, it tasted very delicious. It tasted like
salmon sushi. When I told Jerry about this, it said its capsule tasted like hamster food and it was
yummy. Jerry and I were full by eating one capsule each.
During our conversation, Daisy knew that I had no place to stay the night. She told us that
she lived in the station and offered us a spare room. The room was large, with a huge, pink and
purple circlular bed in the middle. There was a bathroom. ‘Relax! Take a bath before you sleep,’
Daisy suggested before leaving the room. When I entered the bathroom, there was a bathtub, with
nothing else. ‘How can I take a shower here?’ I wondered. Suddenly, iron hands came out of the
ceiling, undressed me, and cleaned me completely. Water was plentiful. Then I slept on the bed
and found that it was very comfortable.
When I got up the next day, Daisy’s station had started business. I offered to help, but she told
me to play outside. At day time, I thought the temperature in the desert should be very hot but it
was cool. To spend the time, I played ‘Hide and Seek’ with Jerry.
I hid at the back of the station, and thought Jerry would be unable to find me. I heard some
noise. ‘Jik, jik jik’. When the noise got closer and louder, I was scared and looked around me. I
