Emily
Couldn’t
there just be one day when luck was on my side. Or was I just destined to be
unlucky? Why did I even ask myself when I knew the answers? That was what I was
thinking as I opened the door to a wave of heat to test my brother’s metal detector.
“Why can’t
you just do it?”
“I have to
place a wire in the middle section of my newest invention to enact the…” Yep.
Always had something else to do. So with a sigh I walked out of the house into
the flames of heat. I walked up the winding path, with grass which was yellow
from the heat trodden down till it could hardly be seen. I really hoped there
would be something wrong with the cursed metal detector so I wouldn’t have to
dig up the target of that monotonous beeping that nearly drove me insane every
time I heard it. The dirt was baked by the sun till it was hard as rock and
would withstand more than most rocks around the place. And there was no chance
of it being turned into mud; the sun helped make any water dissolve before it
could do any harm or good. But I had guessed it. Luck was not on my side. Just
as I turned the wretched thing on and began sweeping it over the rock-hard
ground I heard a deep beeping sound come forth from the fateful thing. I turned
the thing off as quickly as I could and flew down the pathway, into the shed
and came back with a rusted and splintering shovel. Anything to speed it up and
get back my precious free time. So I drove the shovel head into the ground and
jumped on it with all my force, pushing it deep into the dirt. I tossed the
pile away and began digging faster and faster. I didn’t even realize that by
digging this I had made myself angry, each blow of the spade making my temper
rise. Then it was as if all I knew was hunger and heat and one thing that I
knew not that I had: determination. If not for determination I would not have
started digging the hole, if not for determination I would never have
continued. And now it was driving me like never before. I had begun to think
that I was just going to die out there in the heat, no proper goodbyes, no one
nearby, just death and then- I wasn’t sure what would happen to me after death.
Then I felt the spade head hit something. It hit with such force that it jolted
me backwards onto the dirt; the shovel fell upon me and banged against my head,
the metal leaving a long red mark. I hastily picked myself up and brushed the
dirt off myself and then took those three fateful steps to the hole. The hole
was nearly six feet deep and at the very bottom was a chest of some sort, with
rusty iron locking it shut.
I lay on my
stomach and reached my lanky arms into the uneven hole until I could just
barely touch the top of the chest. I wrapped my fingers around the crumbling
iron and began pulling it up out of the hole. I felt as if it was pulling my
limbs apart, my grimy fingers began slipping and the chest didn’t even budge. I
wiped the sweat off my face, leaving a line of dirt and mud behind; I gripped
the metal once again and with all of my strength and even more, pulled. My arms
were almost wrenched out of their sockets as I gave that one last pull bringing
the chest on its side out of the hole. I fell over in pain, surprised at how
much force I had put into that. That was the day I learned one good thing about
myself: when I put myself to something I would get it done no matter what. I
looked down at my hands as now that I had freed the chest I could feel the pain
that was in them. The metal must have cut into them as there was dark red blood
all over my hands that looked black because it was mixed with mud and they
stung so badly I nearly screamed out because of the pain. These feelings had
nearly erased the chest from my mind so after I calmed myself it popped right
back in without me even asking. I slowly made my way over to the chest, my
heart pounding. At first I thought I would give it to Daniel because- well, it
would be the right thing to do. But
perhaps you have seen that doing the right thing was not one of my few virtues.
I kept it for myself. God surely must have been teaching me a lesson right
then, even though I would not be able to use it ever again. So there I sat for
hours well all the while the hot sun beat down upon me turning my face beet red
trying to break that lock. It was such an evil thing, trying to keep me from
the goodies inside that chest which my mind was telling me was gold and a lot
of it for that matter. Yes, despite the fact that I was a stubborn fourteen
year old I still believed in fairytales. And then I heard something pop. It all
happened so quickly that I wasn’t quite sure if it was anything. But deep
inside of me I knew the lock was broken. I eagerly threw the wretched lock away
and tossed open the heavy lid. I looked inside. There, right at the bottom of
the chest was a book. Only a book. Tears sprung up into my eyes and a few fell
in trickles down my dirty face, making pathways through the dirt. I kicked the
chest with all my strength and it didn’t even wobble. It was the chest that was
heavy, not what was inside. So many thoughts- all which had traces of hatred
running through them- were going through my mind that I cannot close to explain
half of them yet the main thought that was driving them all was more than
clear. In fact it was pounding in my
mind, the words straight before me. I tried closing my eyes to keep out the
sight yet I could not. The words were only in my mind. “We live in the real
world Emily, face the facts. Stop living in your dreams.” But I knew I
couldn’t.
Then as
lightning flashes through the sky in just one second my tantrum was over in
just one second. Gone. As if it had never existed. And my mind wandered back to
the chest. I picked up the slim book that was in the bottom of the chest and
looked at it. No title, no author. I sighed and began flipping through the
pages with no hope that the book was worth anything. I was too depressed to
have hope in anything. That is, except for God. Though he seemed pretty far
away now. That was when something caught my eye. Just one sentence. “If you are
reading this now, your life is nearly at an end as this is the mystery to your
life.” Was I going to continue believing in fairytales? I had to break the
habit sometime or other. But alas, my attention was caught. I read it from
beginning to end, well the first chapter anyways. “Each person’s life is a
mystery waiting to be solved. When they solve it they die. Each person has a
different mystery to solve, some come in unexpected yet fairly simple ways well
others have to toil till tears are brought to their eyes to find the mystery.
But the person has to have a slight bit of determination and selflessness in
them to find their mystery. Those who do not care do not find theirs. If you are reading this now, your life is
nearly at an end as this is the mystery to your life.” A wave of shock and yet
relief blew over me. I felt that God was near and I was happy. As I write this
I feel myself fading away. Is there anything more?
When I woke
up I thought I saw a fairy beside me. Perhaps fairy tales really are true. Then
I looked up and saw the most beautiful and amazing sight ever. This couldn’t be
a fairytale. It was too good for that. I knew that people must know which is
why I am writing this and trusting in God to carry it to its destination.
………………………………
The journal
was found half burnt the very day that this occurred. Someone had set a tree
nearby on fire and Emily and the metal detector were burnt with it. There was
no chest or book anywhere near and soon after the journal was read we
determined that Emily was crazy. However some people still believe that the
chest and book were just burnt up in the fire though those people do not
believe what the book said was actually true. “Maybe now” said a young girl who
was in the latter group of people, “Emily knows that the book was lying.” “But
if the book was true” some find themselves asking “what happens to the people
who don’t solve their mystery.” But they
had no answer for it is not their mystery to solve.
Hope you enjoyed it. Now for I Josiahs entry:
PHILLIPS
UNDERWATER ADVENTURE
Phillip was
a fisherman who was very poor, he had a small house; however, he was very
smart. One day he was out fishing with some buddies when he fell overboard. He
was in the ocean so of course he couldn’t breathe, but when he was floating
down he saw what looked like a fence made out of rocks. When he landed on the bottom
of the ocean he landed inside the circle of rocks, and when he got inside he
could breathe! Lucky him, for he would have drowned soon if that hadn’t
happened. He stood up and then noticed that in the middle of the circle there
was a huge boulder, and then he saw that in the boulder there was a door that
appeared to be just the right size for a starfish! “Strange” he said to
himself, and then he opened the door, and when he opened it to his surprise it
became just the right size for him! He stepped inside and was in a long
hallway. He walked on for a little while when he noticed a door at the end of
the long hallway.
He opened the door and slowly, stepped
inside. When he was inside he saw a throne and there was a starfish sitting in
it that was wearing a crown, and surrounding the throne were a dozen soldier
starfish!
“Get him “ordered the starfish in the throne
who seemed to be a king. Then four of the starfish soldiers ran forward, tied
his hands and feet and strapped him to a large bed that was sitting in a corner
of the room. The starfish king walked over and in a solemn voice said, “You
have invaded the property of Akadan, King of the starfish,” and he drew his
sword from the belt that he was wearing and raised it over his head. He was about
to strike Phillip when all of a sudden a shark burst into the room! It swam straight
into Akadan, knocking him over. Then a giant sea snail came into the room and
said quietly to Phillip, “You need to get out of here quick!”
“But I can’t” whispered Phillip,” I’m tied up
as you can plainly see.” At this the snail went over to Akadan’s sword (which
Akadan had dropped in fright when the shark burst into the room) and picked it
up. The snail returned to Philip hastily and cut the ropes. Then they both ran
out of the mystical, huge boulder.
Then Phillip asked, “But how I am supposed
to get up out of the ocean?”
The snail replied “My friend Bobbie the
parrot fish can help you with that.” And then a big parrot fish swam over and
placed Phillip on his back. Then Bobbie swam up to the top of the ocean and
threw Phillip onto the boat which he had earlier fallen off of. One of his
friends came up to him and said “Wow, you came back alive, how did you manage
to do that.”
Then Phillip said, “Well, you wouldn’t believe
me if I told you.”
Hope you enjoyed that one too. You guys should go enter. We will end with a picture.
Yeah, I know random. But we are random so deal with it. Bye!
