The Traveller
Discovery College, Vanessa Yu, Fiction: Group 4
T
he day have broken dry and bright in the Gobi Desert, extraordinarily dry and bright,
the young girl walked through the trail that the elders have pointed her to. It must be
over 45 degrees. The elders of the nomadic tribe have once said never to travel if the
temperature exceeds 40 degrees but the young girl was to prove them wrong. This trail
leads to the southeast edge of the desert, China. She had always imagine and dreamt what China
would look like under the golden ray of sunshine, would it shine bright like a ruby, reflecting it’s
breath taking architect or would it be a rusty old country fill with 500 years of history, 500 years
worth of knowledge and culture. The young girl had beg and yearn to go to China, to see the
great wall, the Forbidden City and other great architect within the mysterious, Sino country. She
had stopped on top of a slope, staring at the sky, it was about ten o’clock, two more hours until
she will have to find a shade or shelter to hide from the boiling heat of the midday sun. She had
looked down from the slope and the nomadic village is now just a mere dot, next to her was a dog
with the fur of gold. It was a gift from the elders before she set off to a journey longer than she
will ever imagine. She peered through the sunrays and saw a thin line; this hairline is the trail
that was built for the villagers to travel.
The girl knew that if she did not find a water source, she would soon be dehydrated along with
the golden dog. As she imagined the horrible death of her and her loyal dog, a gust of wind blew
from the east, covering every inch of her body in sand. She will have to spend quite a while to
get rid of the sand on her and to brush through the fur of the golden dog. By the time the girl had
poured all the sand out of her moccasin, her bag and brushed the dog’s fur clean, it was already
half past ten according to her watch. She had one and a half hour until she will be sizzling on
this hot pan, she picked up her pace and ushered the dog to go first. You never know what is
underneath the thick, rough sand, she thought to herself. As the dog’s tongue hangs lose out of
its mouth, there was something lurking behind the girl about 100m away. It was huge with a very
bulky body; it kept a distance from the travellers and tries to be as silent as possible. Of course
the girl had not notice this creature, she was to focus on her journey to China, the great old China
she thought. She walked for what seems like forever and finally arrived at a giant lake in the
middle of the desert, she refilled her water bottle and decided to take a little rest under the Sissoo
Tree, tying the dog around the bark of the tree.
After half an hour of sitting under the shadow of the tree, she decided to move on. Untying
the dog and packing her bag, she got out of the shadow, almost immediately regretting her choice.
The sun is as hot as ever, burning little spot of bare skin on the back of her neck. She craned her
neck around to see for the last time the Sissoo Tree, she was about to move on when she saw the
bulky shadow of what look like a bull with oversized horn. She thought to herself that she was
hallucinating because of the hot weather and sunrays shining brightly directly on her head. She
shook her head a few times to clear off her mind and moved on while the dog stand rigid staring
at where the shadow used to be. The girl did not notice that the dog was whimpering while staring
frantically at the spot.
With every single step she took, the sun seems to shine brighter and brighter, until it is
unbearable. The girl had found a piece of desert greening and stayed under yet another Sissoo
