The Beauty of the Gobi Desert
St. Mark’s School, Brian Cheng, Fiction: Group 4
T
his was certainly a noteworthy day. Donald, Wilson, Philip and I have left our footprints
on the mysterious Gobi Desert. The exploration was tough, exhausting and life-
threating, but still, we have the moments to treasure. We loved and we appreciated the
beauty of nature, which will remain deep inside our hearts…Yes! I am proud to say that
we have conquered the Gobi Desert!
9 Oct 1997’
These words were in the notebook that Fred was reading. The word ‘Exploration Notebook’
was printed in Gold on the cover. The words filled his body, including his hands, his legs and his
feet. Despite the night being very tranquil, with star shinning like diamonds, he just wished, for
a split of second, that the sunlight would sneak into his room and bring him the day he had long
awaited. It was the day he would step on the warm and soft sea of sand again to see his footprints
in the Gobi Desert. With a different identity, he knew he was not an explorer this time, but a
leader, a tutor and a guide, leading the youth to hunt for the magic of this place. He blew out the
weak flame standing on the red wax candle and put the notebook on his desk, and waited for the
day to arrive with his eyes closed.
‘Are you kidding me… ?’ Donald whispered softly with one hand covering his eyes while
Wilson was trying to explain something to a lady…
‘Madam, believe me, the trip is totally safe. The route is designed for youth explorers. Your
child may just get a little bit exhausted after the…’
‘What? Exhausted? I am not paying for my child to get tired or get hurt! This is total
nonsense…’ standing next to this lady was a boy, thin, tall and young with large black glasses on
his nose. A pair of headphones hung over his ears and his eyes were on his cell phone. Clearly, he
was not concerned about whatever ‘reasonable’ requests his mother was making. Rather, he was
enjoying his music and texting,.
There was another girl, with a pair of dark short pants and heavy make-up on her face. She
hadn’t followed the instructions issued by Fred that ‘shorts and make-up are not allowed.’ Within
a few steps away, there was a physically mature boy empty-handed. His parents were right behind
him with his big pack bag.
‘Yea…This is the next generation….’ Donald murmured again.
‘Well…Teenagers, it is time for us to get exploring! First of all, we need to walk several
kilometres to get some camels to ride on. Get yourself ready as we will be setting off soon.’ Fred
said loudly when everything was settled.
‘What? A few kilometres? Can we just ride in a car or something? That is simply too much for me.’
All of a sudden, the faces of the teenagers were painted with another color, a color of
discontent and irritation. Actually, from the moment they were forced to join this trip by their
parents, they became this color. Everything was not in their control, or to their will. To put it
briefly, at this moment, they all just hoped that these few days would somehow pass quickly,
without too much incident…
As the group started to cross the desert, streams of complaints arose, about the suffocating
weather, the boiling sea of sand and the denser air of the desert.
