Not That Taste At All
Ying Wa College, Ho Tin Chan, Fiction: Group 3
I
n a gust of wind, Tom and his wife Sandy began their journey to the 1,600 kilometers wide
and 800 kilometers long Gobi desert in search of objects or facts about the well-known Silk
Road in Ancient China.
Just a few minutes after their start, Tom said confidently to Sandy,
“You know, I’m just afraid that somebody will be jealous of our Nobel Prize.”
But, in fact, their start of journey was the start of their nightmare.
As they successfully traveled into the depths of the famous desert with just 3 days with the
help of two loyal camels, they started to look for things about the Silk Road. In the first three
days, they just found junk such as camel bones, water bottles and even fire ashes. However, they
still didn’t give up and continued to search for goods.
As the search stepped into the fifth day, Tom finally found something precious buried deeply
into the yellow sands.
“Come here! I found something good!” He exclaimed.
Excited and nervous, Sandy came and had a curious look.
Finally, she hugged Tom and said unbelievably, “It’s a map of the silk road! How superb you are!”
Loudly with pride, Tom shouted, “Now that’s the taste of getting a Nobel Prize! We’re rich!
Let’s get out of here and let everybody be jealous of our fame!”
Then, they got on the camels and started to leave the desert.
Shortly a few hours after their discovery, Sandy noticed something strange behind them and
said, “Tom, why are there specks of sand flying in mid-air?”
Tom saw it, and said, “Maybe it’s the wind blowing, don’t be so anxious about that, it’ll be OK.”
However, the wind got stronger and stronger, and the sky became greyer and greyer. Suddenly,
Tom exclaimed, “Sand in mid-air, strong wind and grey sky- it’s a sandstorm!
Sandy, duck behind that large cactus--- Sandy? Sandy? Where are you? Sandy!”
Unfortunately, it was too late. Sandy had disappeared in a gust of sand, and Tom can only
duck behind the cactus, feeling guilty and helpless. Another gust of sand blew above Tom, and
then Tom let out a cry of despair. The camels had also disappeared, then---
When Tom regained consciousness, all his belongings, including the map, and Sandy, were gone.
Tom shouted, “How can I go on with this? No one will remember me. My Nobel Prize was also
gone! Most of all, Sandy’s gone, and I will die soon without food!” Tom was so unhappy that he
wept for a long time.
But, Tom decided that he must return to the city before he dies, which was his last wish. “No, I
must be strong. No matter what happened to me, I must persist in reaching the city.
Then, I will get help and live peacefully.” Quickly, he started to search for food.
After walking for a short period of time, he found a dead body lying on the yellow sand. Tom
thought, “It must be camel meat. I finally found something to eat!” He then feasted himself with
raw meat, carried them and continued his journey.
In the next three days, he continued his journey with neither any sleep nor rest and ate raw
camel meat. At last, he saw hope.
“Is this the town? Hurray! I’ve managed to get back to the town! I’m rescued!” Then, Tom ran
