The secret map in my garden | Story by 10 year old Aashritha from Bangalore

One day I was digging a flower bed so that I could plant some rose plants. Suddenly my spade struck something hard in the ground. I decided to gently remove the mud and see what it was. It was a glass bottle.

I opened the bottle with some difficulty and found a piece of paper. It looked like some sort of a map. It was torn on one side. I took a closer look at it and found there were no landmarks on it. It was just a paper with light dotted lines.

It was very hot outside and sweat was already forming on my forehead. A drop of sweat dripped onto the map. On the spot where it fell, I saw something  appear. I felt very excited and decided to drip some water slowly on the map  using a dropper. It widened and it was as large as my lawn! I stepped inside and walked around its lines till I reached the ‘X’ spot, the destination.

As soon as I stepped on it, I found myself in Madagascar, on the east coast of Africa. The map had a picture of an arrow carved on a coconut tree and a spade underneath. I walked a lot before I found a tree that looked exactly like the picture. I took the spade and began digging till I found a stairway filled with sand. It was just like the flight of stairs they found leading to King Tutankhamun’s Mummy in Egypt. But instead of a Mummy I found an ancient Library.

I walked inside hurriedly and in my rush failed to read a sign that had specific instructions on how to enter.

I regained consciousness abruptly and found myself in my garden once again with my rose plants. Was that all my imagination? I decided to actually plant some rose plants instead of dreaming of doing it. I took my spade and started digging the flower bed, when I found the same glass bottle I thought I had seen earlier.

Was all I had seen for real? Only one way to find out. I opened the bottle
and began to drip water on the paper to make the map appear. This time, I
decided to be more mindful and read the instructions when I got there.