Tony 5/6D

28/10/13

The Last LetterIn the centre of a gloomy, candle lit and forgotten room, sat an old and depressed man who felt like his life was slowly leaving him. He knew he didnt have long left, and he couldnt die with the tide of regret that he felt. Memories rushed from his life, he was saddened by a certain memory of the day his family passed. He could have saved them, he thought to himself if only he had taken them with him! He remembered their faces as they lay still on the ground. His wife had told him to go on and take their kids with him, before she passed on. This saddened him most of all, that because of him his children were gone, taken to a place unknown and far away. He began to reach for the quill, with his weather worn and stiff hands. He dipped it into the ink, and began to allow his memories to flow onto the page, as he wrote about his lonely life. The letter read:

To whom it may concern, My life has been filled with many wondrous moments, but none of which will fill the hole in my heart that my friends and family left behind. Throughout my life I have been fortunate enough to inherit a great wealth from my ancestors, although since my life is coming to a close I have no use for it and I wish for it to and I wish to pass it on to the finder of this letter. Keep in mind that with great wealth comes great responsibility. This map will lead you to what is left of my wealth, use it well. And always remember that those who love us, never really leave us, the will remain with us in our hearts.

After carefully writing the letter, he began to draw an exact replica of Mill Park, and drew markers as to the whereabouts of his wealth. Once completed, he tore the map in two, and placed the two pieces in two separate bottles. After that he left his retired old home, and began to search for a hiding place for one of the bottles. He settled on a place filled with life and greenery, where trees grew and small creatures could roam free. He then set out to find the second location. When he settled down on a place, a lay it down gently, and left it to be passed on to the finder. Soon after this the old man passed, knowing that he had gotten rid of the regret that had been a burden on his shoulders. There was a loud chatter of children playing and running freely, enjoying themselves and having fun with friends. Abigail was playing around with her friends; they were chasing each other around the court yard, when she tripped over something in the bushes. She looked around but couldnt find what had tripped her. Until she passed her eyes over the lower part of the bushes, and saw something glistening in the sunlight. She decides not to open the glass bottle in case someone might see her, and grow suspicious. She puts it in her pocket and continues playing with her friends. Later that evening, she finished her homework, and while she was reaching down to get her pen, she knocked the bottle out of her pocket. She heard a crash on the ground and looked down. As she did this she remembered what had happened earlier in the day. She took the paper out of the bottle and realised what it was. On one side was half the map of Mill Park, and on the other side she found a riddle. It said

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something along the lines of if you go to a place where the red frog leaps, you will find the key to my wealth. She couldnt make out the rest of the riddle because time had smudged the old fashioned ink. The next morning Abigail told her friends Sasha, Tom and Isabelle what she had found the day prior, and asked them not to tell anyone. She also said that if anyone of the four were to find the other half of the map, or his wealth, then to call each other and they could find it together. After Abigail finished her school, she got on her bike and rode off home. On the way back she saw the footy players on the oval, and when she turned her head a little she saw the sign that told everyone where Red Leap was. She recalled reading something about a red frog, and then it hit her. Where the red frog leaps, this was what the riddle had been talking about. She called over her friends and together they searched the oval for three and a half hours. After a while they gave up looking and decided that they would come back the following mourning. It was the first day of the long weekend, and Abigail and her friends were searching relentlessly to find the wealth that the letter told them about. After a day of searching they finally came to the conclusion that maybe the riddle didnt mean Red Leap. So they all went and got a slushy and went to sit on the rocks near the pond. Tom was the clumsiest of the four, and just before he sat down, he fell over something protruding out of the ground. He cried in agony at his jarred foot, but the girls were more interested at what lay beneath the foliage. Sasha held the low-lying branches to the side as Isabelle removed the box from the ground. Inside the box the friends found another smaller box which contained the second half of the map. Luckily enough, Abigail had brought the first half of the map. They put the two pieces side by side and followed to where the map lead. They found that it was actually under a recently built caf in Raven Street. They followed the map to find the caf. When they arrived, they asked the manager if while building the caf they had found anything that might have had money in it. He told them that he hadnt and that if he had, he would have given it to his grandkids to support their cancer funds. The four friends realised that maybe it wasnt buried under the caf. So they placed the map on the wall and re read it. They found that they had actually had it upside down the whole time, and that it was buried in the park down in Werribee. When they arrived at their houses, the all asked their parents if they could go to Werribee to look for something. They all got the reply yes, and set off the following mourning to look for it. When they got to the park they found that it was a lot bigger then what they had originally thought. They searched for hours on end in search for the wealth. They couldnt find it and they decided that they deserved a break. They gathered around th e park benches and started thinking of the whereabouts of the map. They couldnt think of it, so they went back home and returned the following day. When they got there they started to look around the park, and with the time and effort they put in they were rewarded when they saw a tree that was jutting out of the ground at a weird angle. Abigail remembered reading in the riddle about a tree thats out of the ordinary. She thought that this looked like a pretty out of the ordinary tree and they started to look around. They then began digging directly under the tree. After about ten minutes of digging they hit something rock hard. When they pulled it out they found that it wasnt a rock, but a ch est. Abigail pulled out the key she received from the bigger box a couple days prior. She found that it was a slightly rusted key and took some effort to turn. They heard a click and opened they chest. What they found inside was a check to one-hundred million dollars. They were so excited and tired. When they returned that night they remembered the manager from the caf, and what he said about his grandkids having cancer. They went to him later that evening and gave him a check for twenty million dollars to go towards his grandkids. He was overjoyed at the thought that these children could mean the difference of life and death for his grandkids. He grabbed them in a bear hug and couldnt stop thank ing them. A month later the four friends found out that the surgery had been a success, and because of the money donated they research lab were one step closer to finding a cure for cancer. Abigail, Sasha, Tom and Isabelle were all so relieved to hear the news, and they were glad that they could have helped someone in such a dramatic way. They split the remaining money four ways, and each got twenty million dollars each. And with that they returned to their families grinning.

Tony 5/6D

28/10/13

THE END!