New Tales of the Gobi Desert
Island School, Victoria Huang, Fiction: Group 3
K
atie reached out and patted her father’s hunched shoulder, “I think we’re here.” she
muttered, looking up from her tattered map and admiring the beautiful view. The
vehicle suddenly halted to a stop. There was nothing but endless sand stretching from
north to south. Katie breathed in the dry air, stepping out from the car. “Ugh.” she
grunted as she wiped bits of sand out of her nostrils.
“Yup, this definitely is the Gobi desert.” her father smiled, he opened the trunk and took out a
whole box out and two camping bags, and offered one to Katie. “Come on, we’ve got to set up our
camp soon.”
Katie eagerly helped her father nail in the pole, but it kept tipping over, due to the blazing
hot weather and the stiff ground. She felt sweat trickling on her back. Finally, they gave up and
tiredly rested on the warm hard ground, her dad fishing out a granola bar for each of them. After
the snack break, they kept attempting until the energy drained out of them. Katie toppled over
panting, covered in sweat and her father immediately dropped the rock and hammer that he was
clutching onto and fell back, his bottom landing first. “I guess we’ll have to find some sort of hotel
tomorrow.” her father sighed, wiping sweat dripping from his brow. Her father pulled out a blanket
and laid it on the ground, then, he gestured to Katie “Come.” They both were finally relaxed and
sitting down while watching the gentle golden glow of the setting sun.
Hours passed by as Katy paced back and forth, admiring the evening sky. Her dad called her
over “It’s time for our night feast.” he smiled childishly, “After all, we didn’t really have a proper
dinner yet.” Katie’s mouth watered as she looked at the delicious picnic food set in front of her: a
whole container of chocolate chip cookies, fruits, sandwiches, chocolate, and a big packet of chips.
Katie’s stomach growled. Then, they enjoyed their first ever meal at the Gobi desert.
“I think we’d better get to sleep now.” Her dad said. Katie stretched out her wrist and checked
her watch: 10:30 PM, just about her bedtime.
Katie lay down snuggled up in her sleeping bag on the hard ground, which made it feel like
she was sleeping on a thin mat on the ground. She overheard her father snoring and suddenly felt
so alone. She fumbled in her camping bag and took out a reading book and a flash light. She read
the first few sentences, but the story didn’t seem real to her anymore. “Wait,” she thought, “Is it
just me, or is the wind howling a bit more loudly than a while ago?” A minute later she noticed a
little blinking light was about 100 meters away racing towards them at top speed. After about 30
seconds or so, she heard a panting sound coming from the light so she cautiously tiptoed towards
it. That person must have seen Katie’s flashlight. “Oh!” Katie exclaimed. It was a girl.
The girl’s face was covered in sweat and some bits of her dark hair sprawled all over her face.
She muttered something in a confusing language and Katie shrugged her shoulders, indicating
that she didn’t understand what she was saying. Katie began to get worried, she could tell there
was panic and urge in the girl’s sparkling brown eyes. Before she thought of anything else, she
was kneeling by her sleeping father and shaking his shoulders hard. “Dad, DAD! Wake up!” his dad
mumbled something but finally, he sat up, Katie Pointed out that girl to her father. The girl muttered
some more urgent words and grabbed for Katie’s numb hands. Katie wasn’t sure of what to do. Her
father looked concerned “Who are you? What are you doing? And what do you want?” her father’s
