The Lost Treasure
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Tanina Bradley, Grade 6, Gin Gin State School
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Short Story
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2017
Excellence Award in the 'Spread The Word 2017' competition
I slam the door. Tears trickling like a waterfall down my face. My cheeks red with fury. Heart aching with restraint. Legs lost with control. My surging eyes gazing everywhere for a place for comfort. What did I do to deserve this? I’d been through this already with Dad. But why again? I spot an abandoned building. The paint peeling, shattered windows, neglected garden. Maybe this is what it feels like to be abandoned. I turn the delicate glass handle.
The room had a minty whiff. Doors after doors that were numbered. I lay down on the cold floor feeling unloved. It was just a bad dream. I thought she would beat cancer, but if she didn’t get treatment tonight she would pass away in hospital. I needed money. I needed it so bad. I look up at the door in front of me. That read number 29.
Tears still flowing down my face. I went to investigate. My ears were still ringing from the cruel words said. My heart still stung with rage. I was desperate to find something valuable. The room was dark and in the distance I could see a bookshelf. My legs lead me to it like a magnet. I look for something that would help.
The moon shining through a single window. I found among the books a tile, ‘The lost treasure’ I turned holding it tight. That was when I began to run for my Mum’s life. I needed treasure. I looked for the X, the map showed in room 29. I sprinted like never before in the endless room. It was luck that I came across this place. There was not much time. Mum needed help now. I see a wooden chest.
My tears stop and my legs stood motionless just metres from the box. My soul kneeled down as I thanked the universe for this miracle. I crawled towards the valuable chest and tried opening the chest it wouldn’t budge. Then I read the warning ‘Only the heart can open the chest’. I wept in frustration knowing I had failed. Mum would probably be praying that she could see me. The chest was right in front of me. I needed hope. It made me miserable to think I was almost there.
I lay on the chest. My heart was thumping. I heard sound. I looked down, with deep shock. It was a miracle. I ran through the room to the door, the unlocked chest in my arms. Within minutes I was racing towards the hospital room to give the chest to a doctor.
All I could do now is hope. How did I open the chest? ‘Only the heart can open the chest’. My heart. It was a miracle. I felt exhausted and started to doze off with stress. Then an angel, a light, my mum. I sprung up and hugged her tightly. That day I found hope. Hope for life.