The First Clue

• Aisyah Cooper, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2012

Megan looked around the basement taking in the dusty boxes and musky atmosphere.
She remembered coming down to the basement when she was younger to look for her brothers in their hide and seek games. It was there she discovered a treasure trove of pictures and toys she spent hours looking through.
She didn’t go down that often but today was different, her mother was getting
re-married and Megan would take any sort of string to make her feel little again when everything was how it used to be.
She felt like a child again using her every bit of imagination for all the treasures she found.
It was then she came across an old photo of a girl on a flying broom. Megan examined the photo at different angles to a degree that this girl became quite familiar, the bold eyebrows, the full lips and the small nose.
“This looks a lot like grandma!” she exclaimed in a hushed voice.
The fact that this “girl” was on a broom gave Megan a funny feeling.
Then she thought twice…
“Probably just another one of those studio photos,” she muttered reassuringly to herself.
As she put the photo back something that stood out amongst the pile had caught her eye.
It was a small brown broom resembling of that in the picture.
Once again she examined the object at different angles, and eventually discovered an engraving on the side of the broom boldly saying,
IN THE POSSESION OF OLIVIA EVERETT GARDENER.
This gave Megan a sudden adrenalin rush to find out more, because the name engraved was her grandma’s name.
Once again she thought twice…
“Probably just a prop who am I kidding…” she muttered to herself again.
In mock of her own disappointment she waved her hands at certain things saying ridiculous enchantments as she walked up the stairs to get ready for the wedding. When she reached the top of the stairs she saw her grandma sitting on the bench outside the basement door. “Where have you been? Your mother is waiting for you in the dresser go on!” as she ushered Megan towards her mum.
“Just one last thing mum I’ll meet you in the room in a minute!” She called as her mum was walking away.
Then one last little swish of her hand… and to her amazement the candle nearby lit itself.



“Like finding clues to a treasure map ay?”
Her grandma said with a grin…