New Tales of the Gobi Desert
Across
Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, Angela Li, Fiction: Group 3
I
am a Jerboa, and my dream from when I was small was to cross the great Gobi Desert and
visit the land of Dragons. You may ask me why. When I was born, a gold eagle was flying
across the plain blue sky while singing, “The land of Dragons, green and fresh, cross the
desert to see the flash!” And from that day on, that became my dream.
A week had passed since I left home to fulfil my dream, and I hadn’t come across a single
living creature. All I met on my journey so far was a patch of grass, sand, sand, sand, and sand,
still sand. I continued on my journey.
Suddenly, I saw a speck, well maybe a few specks, oh wait, it’s a bunch of specks! The bunch
of specks slowly turned into a bunch of blobs, which gradually formed into a bunch of Bactrian
Camels. I was delighted to see someone who could give me directions to my dream! I walked over
to them. They didn’t notice me. “Hello?” I said. “Hello?” I shouted. “HELLOOOOOOOO?” I roared,
and finally they heard me. They turned their heads around, trying to find the speaker. I crouched,
building up power in my hind legs, and-----released them, jumping a good 7 feet high up in the
air and right into the leading camel’s face. “Ugh!” it spluttered, and asked, “What is it that you
want, young little fellow?”
“I want to ask for directions.”
“To where?”
“To the land of Dragons.”
“Land of Dragons? Oh, do you mean Zhong Guo?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Go south, little fellow, follow the star of Sirius. But beware of the path you’re taking. Danger
is everywhere in this desert, especially for a guy so small like you.”
I didn’t care about his warnings. My heart was set for my dream. I looked up into the night
sky, recognizing constellations immediately. Leo, Hercules, Scorpius, Pegasus, and……ahh Orion,
the one I’m looking for, and on his belt, the Sirius. “Thank you!” I didn’t even wait for their reply,
I was already on my way towards my star, towards my dream. I walked and skipped, skipped and
hopped, hoping to arrive at my destination as soon as possible.
The night was nearly over, and I could smell the scent of dawn coming closer and closer. And
so, I set to work to build my burrow. Digging up sand and dirt, I settled down for the sunrise and
the light. “Good light.” I whispered to the desert, before drifting off to sleep.
I awoke to the light of the shining moon. Scrambling up to my feet, I breathed in the dry and
hot air of the desert. A group of gazelles was resting not very far away. Trying not to disturb
them in their sleep, I crept past them. But just when I was about to step away from the last
gazelle’s horns, a distant wolf howl awakened the whole desert.
A whole pack of Gray Wolves sprinted out of the shadows of the sand dunes, heading straight
* * *
