Everything Was a Fraud
SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, Law Cheuk Ki Jack, Fiction: Group 3
G
obi Desert was never a heaven for Lemar, who joined a competition to find the abandoned
city in Gobi Desert, which was known to contain a lot of diamonds and dinosaur fossils.
The first person who was able to return to Beijing with 5 diamonds and 5 dinosaur fossils
with a diameter of at least 10 cm long. The competition fee is $200 USD.
Lemar competed with many other contestants, and he was well-prepared – with a lot of water
and food to spare, some medicine to remain his health, utensils for cutting and tearing food,
clothes to withstand the chill at night and cool himself down, and lots more. His rucksack was
fully occupied with everything he needed for the competition. The prize was attractive, with an
astonishing reward of $5000 USD.
One of the rules in the competition only permitted one contestant to start off his/her journey.
Others cannot began their journey unless they asked for permission. Lemar started his journey
on 8 August 2013. He arrived at the first and also the final checkpoint (which there was only a
checkpoint).
“I’m sure I can win the prize,” Lemar murmured.
He started off his first day in Gobi Desert. Things were not as smooth as he expected. He
became thirsty in every hour, and he was so hot that he had to take off a lot of clothes in order to
stay cool. Trekking through the sand, he saw nobody but himself. Up in the sky he couldn’t see a
cloud, but a blazing sun. He sighed, thinking of the best moments he had with friends, and now
he had signed up a competition for just getting the money.
A couple of hours later, he drank some water and noticed that he ran out of water he had
brought with, approximately 4 liters.
“Oh no!” Lemar cried. “I’m going to die if I don’t have any more water. What can I do?”
Time was ticking, and soon sunset came. Still trekking through the desert, he found no help.
His mobile phone could not receive a signal – he was lost.
At night, temperature plummeted. Lemar needed to put on a lot of clothes, but that didn’t help.
He was shivering as he was swaying his body to the left, then to the right, then to the left, then to
the right… He then took a lighter from his jacket and lit up sticks to keep warm.
The next day, he continued to stroll through the steppe in the Gobi Desert. He could not see
any plants and animals around him. Sometimes, there were dust storms which reduced visibility,
and also made him cough continuously. When he had the chance to excrete in the form of pee, he
drank his own pee to keep hydrated. At night, he took some sticks from his rucksack and burnt it.
Few days after, he was so tired and thirsty. He needed to find an oasis. Just then, he noticed
he saw some colors of a water, and the reflection of some rocks in front of him.
“Water!” he yelled. He then cantered forward, but the image he saw did not come closer
to him. Soon, the image disappeared. It was a mirage. He felt disappointed and upset. He was
nowhere near a normal person. His stamina was almost used up. As he was about to faint, he saw
something.
“A well…” he whispered. Then, a village appeared in front of him.
“Does it contain any diamonds and fossils?” he queried curiously.
He then rushed to the well in haste, putting his water bottle to the opening of the well and
