The Three Sacred Stones

• Sara Sandoval, Grade 4, St Paul's School
• Short Story
• 2011

Excellence Award in the 'Step Write Up 2011' competition

Far, away, there is an island full of secrets and treasures ready to be discovered. A little boat arrives. A young man walks out with his bag of drawings. He is ready to paint something extraordinary. He looks around and sees a cave. He starts walking towards it. A loud, mysterious voice says: “I have been waiting for you to come for many years.”
Feeling scared, the man says: “Who are you?
“I come from the heart of Nabooti.” says the voice.
“I have a challenge for you, find the three sacred stones and bury them in the hidden chamber. Your reward shall be the secret treasure and you may live in peace.”

A map appears in the air. The man takes it and reads it: ‘This will help you on your journey. In each town you visit, you will find help for your quest.’
The man slowly walks out of the cave, and finds himself in a jungle. A strong gush of wind carries him towards a small town.
He finds a lady and asks for her help in finding the stones. “I will help you find one, but first you need to help me. You see hundreds of people are coming to buy paintings but they are getting damaged”, she says.
“I have one right here”, he says.
“Thank you! The red stone is under the waterfall, be careful, the goats there like to kick people. You can borrow my horn to scare them”.
The wind takes him to the waterfall. He blows the horn and gets the stone. Next stop is the creek. The man looks around and sees a woman walking her dog.
“Do you know where I can find the stones?”, he asks.
“I know where the blue one is, but you need to help me with my dog. You see he doesn’t want to walk”.
“This feather should give him a tickle”.
“Thank you. The stone is under the frog on that Lilly pad. You can borrow my net to catch it and the stone is yours!”
“Thanks”. He catches the frog and gets the stone.
The wind finally rests him on the last destination where he finds a girl sitting. “I need to find the last sacred stone?” he tells the girl.
“I would help you, but first I need a paint brush to finish my painting”.
“Here you go!” he hands her his brush.
“Thank you, the stone is on the hill where the eagle rests. Watch out, he can hurt you with his beak. Throw down this piece of meat and you can get the stone safely.”
He does everything the girl tells him and finds the stone. “Yes! I did it!” The wind brings him back to the jungle where he finds the chamber and buries them. He runs back to the cave. Soon the voice says, “Here you are again, I see you have brought the stones and buried them. As promised, your reward is on the shores and ready for you. Congratulations on completing my quest.”
“Thank you so much!” He says as he runs out.
After one year, he becomes famous and rich. He has written a book about his adventures… And you have just finished reading it!!

THE END