my dad.”
“Please don’t go. Boy, I am so sorry. No offense. I just want to be your friend. I’ve been lonely
too long. I won’t hurt you, I promise.” The spider said sincerely.
“All right, I choose to believe you. I understand your feeling. Since I had the leukemia, my
friends alienate me. I felt helpless every night. My mum always told me the spiders are harmful.
I should not touch them. So I was so scared just now. I feel much better now. My name is Gilbert,
what’s yours?”
“Uh, this is an embarrassing question. Actually, I have no name. A name has no practical
meaning for me because no one will talk with me. You have no answered my question. What is
your purpose of come here?”
“For fulfill the dream in my heart. I have been living in the city for 7 years and stayed in the
hospital for 3 years. I am not sure how long I can live. I want to experience the wonderful Gobi
desert in the eyes of Marco Polo since I read his story of Gobi desert in the hospital. Little spider,
do you want your own name? I can give you a name. What do you think of ‘Scott’?”
“Great. Anyway, thank you. I will assist you during you stay here”
Gilbert saw his father walked to him. “Scott, my father is coming. Do you mind if I introduce
you to him? He is a caring person. You do not need to be afraid.”
“Okay. I do not mind. ”
“Gilbert, did you sleep well? You must be hungry. I got some food. ”
“Thank you, dad. You are always so sweet. I want to introduce a new friend to you.”
“Does anyone here except us?”
Gilbert exhibited his palm. “He is Scott, my new friend. Yes, it is a real spider. But don’t be
surprised. Scott is friendly. He just simply wanted to be my friend. He lived in here for many
years and he knows everything about Gobi desert. He can help us, dad. ”
“All right, Scott, it is our pleasure to meet you in the desert.”
The night in the desert was bitterly cold, they set up a tend then lay on the sand. The
twinkling stars like the diamonds, shone brightly in the night sky. “Good night, Dad, Scott.”
“Good night, Gilbert.”
They walked in the desert in the next few days. Everything was quite normal. Standing in the
desert, they were struck by the beauty of the desolation and a sense of dramatic history. Gilbert
seemed to feel the breath of Marco Polo.
One night, they walked in the desert as usual. Suddenly, he noticed that the full moon turned
red, there has been a magnificent palace in front of them. It was illusory and unrealistic. “It
finally appear, I thought you could escape from this disaster.” Scott said mysteriously.
“What do you meanScott?”
“There is a legend in Gobi desert. There will be a mirage if the night with full red moon. An
ornate palace will be appeared in the desert. Emitting a soft silver light, mysterious music coming
from inside. That is a very attractive music. If there are some kids hear this music, they will
unconsciously walk into the palace. They will never come back. The palace will disappear when
the sun rises. Nobody knows the palace will take those kids to what place, no one knows if the
kids are dead or alive……”
“You mean…… I will be sucked into it. And separate from my parents forever.”
“Yes. I am sorry about that. This is an unbreakable curse. You must be wondering why nobody
lives here. There are many people used to live here. But those kids were taken away into the
