New Tale of the Gobi Desert
St. Paul’s Co-educational College Primary School, Clare Wong, Fiction: Group 2
C
lass, please open the safety page on your panels. We are now going to go through the
safety procedures of a radiation drill…”
Hannah wasn’t listening to the shrill voice of her civic studies teacher. As the
monotone voice floated past, she looked through the perspex glass at the golden dunes
and shrubs that used to be the Crescent Lake Oasis. It certainly didn’t look like an oasis, and hadn’t
looked like one for 300 years… though she knew they had moved to the Gobi Desert for safety.
As the teacher’s voice droned on and on, Hannah began to daydream. She often imagined
what it would be like to walk outside and touch the golden earth. What would it feel like? As it
was forbidden, she would never know. No one she knew had ever been outside GD-125 since the
Disaster. Living inside their Cyber-Cities, the children were not even allowed to go near the vents
that filtered the air as they could be toxic.
And then she saw it…
“Hannah! Are you listening?” her teacher’s voice lashed at her. “Radiation leaks are very
dangerous. LOOK AT YOUR PANEL!”
After the lesson, collecting her favourite snack –the nutritionally balanced and artificially
flavoured Energy Boost-from the machine, Hannah sat down to think about what she had seen.
Had she imagined it? Was it real? Should she tell her friends?
She was sure that she had seen something out there, but everyone knew that no living
creatures had survived. The Disaster had killed thousands of people and destroyed the eco-system.
The Government had attempted to preserve life but had failed miserably. The Cyber Cities, which
had originally been built to house the expanding population, became the only livable places on
the planet.
Suddenly, Chloe, Justin and Ming arrived at the nutrition pod. Hannah looked preoccupied.
“What’s up with you?” enquired Ming.
Hannah observed her friends cautiously.
“I think I saw something moving outside during the Civic Studies class today.” She was met
with a stunned silence.
“So you were hallucinating from boredom.” Justin finally said sarcastically. “If I had to listen
to Miss Chan’s voice for two hours, I’d start imagining things too!”
Her friends started laughing, but soon stopped after one look at Hannah’s disturbed,
crestfallen face.
“You really think you saw something, don’t you?” Chloe asked hesitantly.
“Look. I can’t be a hundred percent sure. I know they say that nothing survived, but what if
they’re wrong?” Hannah answered.
“But Hannah, no one has ever seen anything moving out there! David said skeptically. “It’s
probably just your imagination.”
Chloe considered the situation. “Why don’t we tell Miss Chan that we want to broadcast a
civic service announcement? We can tell her that we want to work on it during lunch. If there’s
anything out there, we’ll see it.”
At lunchtime, they found themselves staring expectantly out of the window at the sandy
“
