The Tale of Gobi Desert
Immaculate Heart of Mary College, Chong Yee Hin, Fiction: Group 3
H
i! I am a camel from the Gobi Desert. I have two humps to store water for me to drink
and I can survive without food and water for a month! I also have long eyelashes to
keep sand away from my eyes and thick eyebrows to protect me from the hot sun. My
wide feet can walk on the sand without sinking in to it.
Actually, I don’t really like this boring place. It is hot and dry all day and cold all night, as
if you were in a refrigerator. I have only a few animal neighbours, just scorpions, snakes, and
snow leopards. Nothing else. Of course, the Mongolians live here too. When I am bored, I will
sneak near them and listen to their conversations. Sometimes, they gossip about nonsense and
sometimes they talk about some places that I have never heard before.
One day, while I was having a walk by myself in the desert, I met an old Mongolian, who is
a knowledgeable traveler and has travelled hundreds of places and countries such as the United
States and Russia. He always tells his stories and talks about the places after he returned. He is
so adventurous and his stories are so interesting that it is a good way to pass the time and to
broaden my views. Everyone and every camel love to listen to his adventures and stories.
“Hey! Young little camel, can you take me to my yurt --- the place where I live? I can hardly
walk for that long distance.” The old traveler requested. I thought for a while, and then replied,
“That’s okay, but you need to tell me about two different places after I got you there. Deal?”
“Deal,” he answered.
Although his luggage was quite heavy, I didn’t care about it because I just can’t wait to listen
to his wonderful stories.
Upon arrival, I immediately laid beside him with the most relaxing and comfortable position
and got ready to listen. He cleared his voice, and then he started, “Last winter, I went to a place
called Australia. The weather was hot but cool. This country is actually a big island surrounded
by the sea. There are many kinds of animals such as kangaroos, koalas and even a bird called
toucan. It is an amazing place with friendly people…”
While he was telling me how wonderful that place was, I started to picture that I was there,
living in the forest near the river, and with different kinds of animals… I felt lighter because
the two humps on my back seemed to have disappeared! This was the best feeling I had been
dreaming of because I could then gallop like a horse! First, I rushed to the river to drink some
water. Suddenly, a crocodile came out of the water and shouted, “Hey! Who are you? What do you
think you are doing? You do not belong to here!” The toucan, who was very talkative, added, “Oh,
is it a horse? I have never seen a horse with such an ugly face.” I felt uneasy and stared at them,
“Hey stop that. IT is rude! I am a camel!” The animals felt puzzled. Obviously they did not know
what a camel was. Suddenly, one of the koalas shouted, “He is not good. He’s out enemy!” Animals
started to attack me: koalas scratching me, kangaroos jumping on me and crocodiles trying to
snap me and chew me up.
“Are you okay?” I woke up and found that I was in the desert. It was a dream and I felt
relieved. The old traveler gave me some water and some food for me. At last, he made a
conclusion. “Australia is a nice place with many different wild animals, but I don’t like it very
much.” I agreed silently and he continued.
