New Tales of the Gobi Desert
S.T.F.A. Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Yeung Lok Yi, Fiction: Group 2
T
he campfire crackled with the shrill cries of the wind in the distance. The two teenage
adventurers, Sarah and Jamie, sat next to the blaze, talking about the day’s plan on
finding the legendary city in the Gobi. As dawn broke, the strangest thing happened.
“What’s that rumbling noise, Sarah?”
Sarah paused for a moment. She couldn’t believe her eyes. An immense sandstorm was
coming from miles away as if it was a tsunami! “Run! Jamie, run! It’s a sandstorm!” she cried as
she dove into the tent.
Jamie just managed to only leave his feet outside of the tent when the sand poured down. His
eyes blackened and he felt as though he was falling into a bottomless hole. He passed out in the
flooding sand.
When Jamie woke up, the wind stopped. All the sand vanished and a heavenly place like an
oasis was right before his eyes. The campfire and the tents were nowhere to be seen. It was so
strange, but it appeared to be even stranger as someone was missing too.
“Sarah? Where are you, Sarah?” Jamie shouted into the distance. The voice echoed, and Jamie
saw a shadow beneath the trees. “Jamie, come here!”
Sarah was there, pointing to a path which led to the end of the oasis. Sarah and Jamie set out
to find their way out of the mysterious land.
When they stepped out of the oasis, a massive city stood in the land before them. It was the
legendary city of the Gobi which they were looking for. They were greeted by the princess of the
Gobi just as they walked through the gates. They went to the palace straight away for the meal
together as it was getting late. Then, Sarah and Jamie spent the night there.
The next day started with shocking news. At just one single night, all the farm animals,
which lived in the barns of the nearest village next to the grasslands, were murdered. This
tragedy was sure to affect the whole city, and must be solved once and for all. The culprit was
suspected to be an expert who specialized in the environmental protection and claimed to kill
animals to prevent overgrazing. However, the royal family decided to investigate this issue
carefully. The King of the Gobi asked for Jamie and Sarah’s help to get some useful information
about this issue, in case they had to question the culprit. They agreed quickly.
The two adventurers, Jamie and Sarah, had deep discussions on revealing the murderer’s
identity. Finally, they came up with a detailed plan to catch the murderer red-handed.
At night, Jamie led a team of royal spies to a house near a barn secretly. Sarah went up to a
tower to give instructions. They believed that they could see the culprit there.
When everyone in the Gobi fell asleep, a shadow appeared in the barn. Then after a few
flashes of light, the team sprang into action. Quickly, the murderer was caught. All spies left. It
was found that the murderer was the princess!
The princess told Sarah and Jamie why she did it. “Every year, sandstorms occur due to the
desertification which is caused by overgrazing. In order to prevent overgrazing getting worse,
I thought that it is the fastest way was to reduce the number of animals grazing. As all the
farm animals in the barns graze on grass, I decided to kill them. However, I still left only a few
farming villages which are not next to the grasslands. The others should transform into shops and
