Hidden Adventure

• Leila Middleton, Grade 6, Peregrine
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Word Zone 2016' competition

The sounds of footsteps could be heard throughout the lush, green jungle as the sun began to set on the horizon. It was full of dangerous exotic creatures and plant life perfectly suited for the cold, wet environment, definitely not most people’s cup of tea. But for some, this place was like a goldmine, the trees were simply a disguise for the jungle’s valuable hidden treasures and secrets, most of which, had never been seen; until now.

Jane Maxx, an archaeologist from Atlanta, ran for her life through the dense jungle. She had always dreamed of discovering ancient temples and artifacts. So naturally, when she was offered the opportunity to travel to the Peruvian jungles, she happily accepted, having no idea that in a few weeks she would be in possession of the most valuable item in history; a fabled Inca artifact.

Now our adventurer was being chased by a beast of unimaginable proportion, hungry for blood. It was the guardian of a glorious golden temple, which at its peak lay a small golden disc that rest on an altar. Now it had been stolen by a meddlesome trespasser, which made the beast very, very angry.

Jane hadn’t had time to look at the monster yet, let alone the golden disc. She was tempted to return the artifact, but couldn’t bring herself to do it; she needed to know what it was and where it came from, as well as becoming famous, of course. As she ran through jungle, hacking a path with her machete, the beast turns away, seemingly losing interest in the thief. Jane stops, out of breath, unsure of why the guardian stopped chasing her. She crawls under a small rock ledge to examine her find.

“What do we have here?”,

She exclaims, pulling the golden disc from her leather satchel, which had been badly damaged by the plant life during the chase. On the artifact are lines of text in an ancient language and small images describing the discs creation and value among the Incas. From the looks of things the disc and the golden temple were worshiped by the Incas, and many willingly sacrificed their lives to them.

Swiftly Jane exchanges the disc for a small camera, which she uses to photograph the artifact before leaving her hiding place. But while Jane does this, she doesn’t notice the drool dripping from the ledge onto the ground next to her feet, nor does she notice it when she is dragged out by her legs by the beast, which hadn’t lost interest at all, it had simply taken a longer route, trying to bait Jane into believing that she was safe.

Jane laughs, patting her dog on the head. It wags its tail contently as it grasps the yellow Frisbee with its mouth; it too tired from the adventure in their backyard.

“Jane, dinner time!”,

Her Mum yells through the kitchen window to Jane, the 9 year old girl.

“Come on Rex, time to go inside”.