The Silver Apple
SHCC, Mikayla Wong, Fiction: Group 3
T
here is a beautiful legend about a magical girl with marvellous silver hair and eyes. This
magical girl was not only beautiful, but was also kind, brave and selfless. She spent her
entire life helping others and teaching people to care about others. Before she died, she
didn’t want her magic to be wasted so she inserted her magic powers in an apple tree,
which became a magical silver apple tree, and the apples could only be picked by a kind, selfless
and brave person. The apples could cure any disease and make the picker live forever. This special
tree was located to the east of the Gobi desert, but nobody had ever been successful in finding it,
until one day….
A small village called Liqian was to the west of the Gobi desert. In this village lived a boy
named Wong Ying; he had a mother with a serious illness, and he was extremely worried since
they couldn’t afford medicines for her. He loved his mother so much that he was willing to
sacrifice his life for her, so he decided to find the silver apple tree to cure his mother’s illness,
the same silver apple tree that he had heard about his entire life. On a night when the stars were
sparkling, bright in the sky, he packed some water, food and supplies for the journey and snuck
out the village quietly, not wanting anyone to know where he was going.
The desert was as cold as the Polar Region at night. Freezing cold air stung Wong Ying’s eyes
and the temperature made him shiver. He wasn’t sure where to go, since the desert was pitch
black, only the shimmering stars were glowing. ‘I could find my way by identifying the right
star!’ The bright east star then guided his way and he felt very optimistic as he walked all night.
The next day, the gigantic fireball sun blazed and shone, as if wanting to burn everything
away. Wong Ying felt his skin turning into ashes as gallons of sweat poured down his face,
making his vision blurry. He sat down and drank some water, regretting not bringing an
umbrella. While he sat in the hot sand, he found something sharp against his bottom. He was
curious and immediately started digging. After a while, he discovered a long piece of wood.
“What can I do with a useless piece of wood?” He knew that the wood was useless, but he still
kept it with him, hoping it would become something useful.
The second day, a great dust storm was brewing. Wong Ying felt frightened and helpless at
the sight of the oncoming storm – it ate up everything in its way and he didn’t want to be its next
prey! His heart was going to pop out of his chest but he still managed to stay calm and buried his
head in his arms and bent his body as low as possible. His eyes were stung by dust and sand, but
fortunately, he wasn’t injured at all. With a sigh of relief, he checked his belongings. His bottle
and food was gone, a smooth stone had taken their place. His throat was dry, his tongue felt like a
thin piece of cardboard paper, his stomach was protesting and growling angrily and he only had
a useless stone? He started complaining and shouting at the desert but he didn’t throw the stone
away since he had been taught to never waste anything.
The third day, Wong Ying’s head ached because of dehydration and starvation and his body
seemed to be breaking apart. He could not walk any further. As he looked at the horizon, he saw
something shimmering in the distance. It looked like a pool of fresh, cool water! So excited to find
hope and salvation, he started to race towards the water. His legs and feet suddenly felt stronger
with the idea of liquid refreshing his entire body. Although he kept running towards the water,
