“Please stop complaining. You are making my head hurt,” Hai hushed her. When they had
woken with the first light, they had immediately started moving. They had walked for hours, so
Ai had absolute rights to complain. Hai was tired too, but a fire had been lit inside him and he
refused to let it die. They made their way through the desert slowly but surely.
“Hai! Please! Let’s rest. I’m so tired and thirsty and hungry!” Hai turned to face his sister.
“I know, but just a little longer. Please, we have to try... Ouch!” Grains of sand as sharp as
needles pricked the skin on his bare arms. Hai shielded his eyes as best as he could and stared
into the distance. The air had turned orange all around them; the sky was low and dark. The fire
inside him flared as he grabbed Ai and ran.
“SAND STORM!” he screamed. Ai screamed too as they ran as fast as they could, but they
were no match for the monster chasing after them. Sand whirled all around them.
Ai gasped as she chocked on the sand. They collapsed and Hai rolled on top of Ai.
“Cover your mouth and shut you eyes tight!” he cried.
“Hai!” Ai was in tears. “I can’t breath!” Hai felt as if his skin was being ripped off.
“It can’t end like this!” he thought desperately. “ Come on!” Dragging his sister to her feet,
they fought their way forward. The sand was as sharp as the whips they had tasted earlier. They
were blinded and suddenly found themselves tumbling through the air. They fell with a thump
and Hai realized that they had stumbled off a ledge and into a cave. Darkness surrounded them.
Outside, the storm howled and the very ground was rumbling. There was no point to try and talk,
just sit tight and wait for it to end.
Much later, Ai opened her eyes and saw her brother sitting in front of her. It was light. The
sandstorm was over.
“I cant believe we survived that. How is that even possible?” Hai asked aloud.
“I don’t know.” Ai sat up, rubbing her sore head. They rested there for another hour before
Hai insisted that they get going. As they walked, the desert shimmered around them and the
sun climbed higher into the sky. They struggled onward, hoping to spot a caravan along the
treacherous Silk Road. Hai knew that would be their only chance.
“Um, is it just me? Or is the ground shaking?”
“No, that’s just you… No, wait... You’re right!”
“Guards?!” Hai panicked.
It seemed as if a cloud came charging towards them. The children cowered down and when
the sand settled, they found themselves surrounded by men on horses, their dress similar to that
of their own tribe. An elder slid off his mount and made his way towards them.
“I see you have survived the sand storm,” he smiled at them.
“How did you know?” Hai asked.
“Your skin. Those wounds can’t be from anything else.”
“They could be from a big cat,” Hai said.
“The marks are too thin,” the man replied.
“They could be from whips...” Hai said, his lips quivering.
“Mmm...I can see such wounds on you too.”
The children shared their story. Outraged and full of sympathy, the men offered them shelter
in their tribe.
“In time, we may come across your tribe on our travels, so that you may be reunited with your
own kin. Until then, share our yurts, our food and our work.”
