The Secret Temple

• Jessica Griffin, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2021

When Lily was 7 her parents told her about a hidden temple in the woods of KunKun. It’s known to be over 500 years old and placed in the heart of the forest. For years Lily has been looking for it documenting her adventures on the way. She hopes that if she finds the temple she will be a famous explorer. If she finds the temple she will turn it into a sanctuary for wildlife. Once when Lily was exploring she came across an old dirt path with torch lights that had moss and vines growing on it. She decided that today she was going to follow the path. Last time she went to follow the path her torch ran out of battery just as she reached the path. Now her torch has new batteries and she hatpacked things she thought she might need. When she reached the path again, she followed it with her torch shining every which way in case there were traps. When temples were built, they were built with traps to keep people out. The traps would range anywhere from arrows to tripwires. When you are looking for temples you should always bring a flashlight. Lily has reached the end of the path and finds not a temple, but a sign. It is a bit hard to read but she manages to make out most of the words. It reads: YOU THINK YOU CAN GET INTO THE TEMPLE THAT QUICK. HA. YOU HAVE TO PASS A TEST. YOU NEED TO GET WATER AND PUT IT INTO THE HANDS OF THE STATUE. THEN PLACE A PINK FLOWER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WATER. Lily used her canteen to carry the water from the nearby lake to the statue since she drank all her water. She put the water in the hands and found a pink flower to put in the middle. As soon as she put the flower in, some trees moved to make an opening. She can see a golden temple. She can see piles of golden coins and stacks of money. Lily got out her camera and was going to record it to show people but suddenly she put down her camera. She decided to keep it to herself since she knew people could be greedy. She thought that there was probably 10 billion dollars or something. She looked around for a while and saw golden statues of humans. There was a pyramid in one of the corners. Lily entered and saw a bunch of weird shapes and old paint jars that they must have used when creating this place. It was getting late so Lily decided to head home. When Lily got home, her mum asked if she had found the temple. Instead of saying yes, she said that it might be a myth. *Wink Wink*.