Shortlisted
The Deadliest Desert
Hong Kong International School Middle School, Melanie Chan, 11
M
y feet dug into the hot, spiky sand as I hoed the ground. My scratchy pants made
me itch and my baggy shirt flapped around in the wind. Within the acre of our
farmland I could see my Ba and my sister Mei-Hua doing the same, digging around
our farmland and planting trees. I paused to wipe my forehead and continued to
dig a long wide ditch around our land. Once I had made the hole about a meter long, half a meter
wide, and half a meter deep, Ba would run over and dump some jelly soil into the sandy, rocky, and
dry ground. Jelly soil is Ba’s great invention. It is a mixture that contains nutrients and water for
plants. The nutrients and water are slowly released into the soil and will be gradually absorbed by
the plant roots. He had also discovered that the sandy winds coming from the nearby Gobi Desert
could be weakened by layers of trees surrounding our farm and town. Now the whole town was
planting trees, to prevent our homes from the damage that had destroyed the Beijing capital.
Beijing has been eaten up by the desert, but I still love hearing Ma and Ba tell tales of the
Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China that had blocked enemies from attacks, and the amazing
scenery. China was beginning to lose its population and land along with many other countries as
glaciers melted and the sea levels rose higher. This is a problem, but we are lucky that our town is
up on a mountain.
I wish I wasn’t a girl, and that I wasn’t just 12, so then people wouldn’t say that I didn’t need
to help out so much because it could be dangerous. But I am determined to help my town from
becoming a part of the Gobi desert, and I already started secretly researching so that I can help
Ba. Ba is an environmental scientist and an inventor. But I don’t want to just be an inventor, I
want to really help.
I dug the hole while Ba lugged the big sacks and wheelbarrows of jelly soil to my ditch. It
was hard work all right, but I had one of the lightest tasks. The easier task of planting trees was
reserved for the little kids. All they had to do was stick a little sapling into the soil while one of
the adults followed behind to fill in some more jelly soil. I did this until around lunch time.
Ma clanged the triangle instrument that meant “Dinner time!”, and Mei-Hua and I raced to
the house.
“Beat you Chichi!” Mei-Hua called. “I get the iPad mini-air 13G first!”
I groaned. She always got the gamer first. I took my place at the dinner table. Ma had set
the table with porcelain plates and bowls, and utensils. She carried out a dish of curry and a big
steaming pot of rice. I gobbled up my lunch and plopped down on the sofa. Ba came in and ate
as quick as a hungry wolf. He stood and walked to his workroom. I thought, ‘Hey, I wonder what
my friends are doing now. Maybe we could study together.’ I washed my face and hurried out the
door. I jumped onto my best friend Po-Ming’s porch and rang the doorbell. I peeked in through
the window. Po was sitting at the table stuffing himself with food. Ba could eat quickly, but Po-
Ming ate like a Tasmanian devil. He opened the door and I went with him back to the kitchen.
“Will you join me during study time?” I asked him.
“Why? I would rather stay here and eat than go and work.” Po-Ming remarked, but grabbed
his bag and followed me out the door.
We passed by some of the other houses, where all the older kids were planting rows of trees.
