‘What on –?’ The two men in suits were unable to finish the sentence, their smug expressions
quickly replaced by that of extreme terror.
‘Help! Bears! Three Gobi bears!’ they screamed as I charged towards them, Ma and Papa
coming to my aid.
Almost there… I’m almost there… Just a few more leaps and this would all be over. Just a few
more leaps, and we can go back to our normal lives as if this was nothing but a grisly nightmare.
Just a few more leaps, and these atrocious people will leave this place forever, and this will still be
our home, and–
BANG!
I stopped dead in my tracks. Turning around in trepidation to see where the bullet had been
directed at, the sight greeting me was that of Ma falling slowly to the ground. My head spun in
newfound fury, and blood filled my ears as adrenaline fueled my body. Turning around again to
seek out the shooted and avenge my mother, I found the barrel of a gun aiming right at my chest.
This doesn’t scare me. I will stay and fight. This is my home.
‘NO!’ Papa howled in agony. ‘Run, Khünbish! Run!’
Taking one last look at Ma’s stock-still figure, I dashed after Papa towards the far North,
leaving Oyu Tolgoi once and for all.
We had no choice. We had to concede defeat. To be evicted from one’s home and birthplace, to
think that life could never be the same again… I could not bear the thought of it any more. Right
now, I can only run.
* * *
* * *
