Gansorig in the Gobi Desert
Korean International School, Edoardo Caltagirone, Fiction: Group 3
E
very step was a horrible agony. The sandals were really hot and the sand was even
hotter. Ganzorig wasn’t thirsty but he knew that soon his throat will begin to feel dry. He
couldn’t believe that a couple of hours before he was laughing with his father. Before he
decided to hide behind a palm tree and try to scare his father when he got closer. But he
didn’t expect that his caravan would actually leave without him. He was still trying to follow the
caravan following the footprints of the camels and the stripes left from the wheels.
Ganzorig was from a poor family that sold silk and were coming back home by the silk road. He
liked to have fun and he always made jokes but he used to steal things; like clothes with his friends
because he wanted to show to others that he wasn’t poor. He didn’t want to accept this truth.
Now because of his pointless joke he was alone in the middle of the desert with some water
and some pieces of dried meat. And he was dying because of the climate. But he knew that he was
going to miss it because he had a few hours left before the sun set, and the situation could become
even worse because the temperature can reach frigid temperatures. He couldn’t survive wearing
only what he was wearing now. Plus the snakes could kill him. Like the central Asian Viper. This
snake is considered the most dangerous snake in the Gobi Desert.
He didn’t know why he was still walking, wasting energy. He fell down and he didn’t find the
energy to stand up. “Why do I need to stand up?” he asked himself. “I can just have a rest for a
minute”, but the truth was that he didn’t want use more energy. He began to think of his family.
During this time he was worried only for himself and his problems without thinking of the people
that loved him. He conjured up an image of his parents crying during the funeral dedicated to
their only son. This sad that allowed Ganzorig to walk for hours. But it was getting cooler and his
clothes were useless in the low temperature. He was exhausted. He realized that the day was almost
finished: the Sun was showing glorious and intense colours before the dark and silent night.
It was dark, silent and really cold. He was very tired. He needed to sit again but he was scared
that he couldn’t stand up again. He saw some little dark shapes in front of him. The shapes were
getting bigger and bigger and he tried to catch it and eat it, but it was useless. Suddenly he wanted
to lie down and sleep forever in the warm embrace of death. It seemed easier and less painful. He
heard some voices. Another illusion or it was a dream? He remembered that someone said, ”finally
they are arrived” .
Ganzorig woke up with the mirage of his home, but suddenly destroyed in the same moment
that he opened his eyes. He was confused at the beginning but later he felt the desperation invade
his mind. “Where am I? Why am I here? Where is my family? Are they worried?” These questions
were the first thing he thought and suddenly someone entered in his room. It was a boy and he
was bringing a bucket full of milk. When he saw me standing up he shouted, “Mum! Dad! He is
waking up!”
After a while two persons came inside. The man was quite small and old but he looked like a
good and generous person. His wife was smaller than him and she seemed smart and kind. The
man whispered something to the women, she nodded and she rushed outside. I looked at the room:
it wasn’t a room, but it was a small tent. When Ganzorig was examining the room the man said,
“Good morning. My name is Otgonbayar, he is my son, Ganbaatar and my wife is called Bolormaa.
