a wooden chair, with his eyes closed. I was about to greet the old man, when the boy whispered,
“shhh! My grandpa doesn’t like people disturbing him while he meditates!” I immediately stepped
back. We waited until he woke up.
“Why hello there, have you brought a friend here?” the old man asked the boy. “Yes!” he replied
excitedly, “This is Sally, she is from America and she has a brother!” I smiled. The old man had
a poker face. “Welcome to Mongolia, Sally. My name is Altius, the keeper of this shrine. Is there
something you need help with?” I nodded. So I was in Mongolia. Then, I told him everything that
happened from the start. He listened patiently. As I talked, he nodded and said “go on” when I
paused. After I told him everything, I took out my necklace and let him examine it.
He squinted his eyes. After a few seconds, he looked up and asked, “may I know the date?”
The boy jumped and answered, “Oh, the date today is…”
“Stop! I’m not asking you, I’m asking the young lady!” The boy sat down, a bit disappointed,
but he let me answered anyway. I recalled the date, including the three days that I passed out.
“Sir, the date is twentieth of June, 2013.”
The boy looked at me, with a confused expression, “But…”
I tilted my head, thinking I probably calculated it wrongly.
“No, you probably got the right date,” Altius said, “if you were still from the time you came from.”
My mouth dropped open. I quickly closed it.
“So you’re saying I travelled through time?” I asked.
“Yes,” Altius said. It says here, “turn me upside down for three times, you are allowed to travel
through time for two times. After the second time, the hourglass will be left behind to the last
person you spoke to.”
He handed the necklace back to me.
“So which year am I in?” I asked. “Well, it’s the beginning of Qing Dynasty,” Altius answered.
I almost fainted. Then, something came to my mind. If this was Qing Dynasty, and I was in
Mongolia… Then was this the same spot of Gobi Desert before it became a desert? I kept quiet.
Bits and pieces suddenly fell into place. The writings on the walls… I saw them on the stones
which I collected when I was researching for the lost shrine. Perhaps… I thought, perhaps this was
the underground chamber that my brother and I were searching for!
After we left the temple, the boy asked excitedly, “So… You’re from the future huh? Could
humans breath under water by then? Do humans have to work in farms? Are you able to fly?”
Different weird but interesting questions blurted out from the boy. I managed a smile. However, I
was still in shock. Was my brother looking for me in the future? What should I do? How could I
get back to the right time? If this was the past of Gobi Desert, then how was it so different? There
were trees, farmlands, grass, flowers...
After the walk, we got back to the boy’s house. I decided to stay for one more night before
returning to my own time. Well, if I figured out how to use the hourglass necklace.
The next day, the boy brought me to his farmland. He taught me how to use the sickle, how
to harvest the crops, and how to order the ox to do work. It was very fascinating. Later, we drank
coconut juice and had a simple lunch and went back to work. We kept our hands working until
I felt impatient and asked, “when are we going to finish? Don’t we have to harvest these crops
before other farmers do to get profit?” The boy just stared at me, with a confused look, and he
replied, “it’s not always about being first, you see. We all just need food, and we just want to live
in peace and happiness! Isn’t that what you want too?”
