We are sharing the next story in our series, Featured Short Stories, written by students in the Creative Writing Club.
Every week, the students in the club work on writing short stories, sometimes from their own ideas, and sometimes from story prompts.
This week’s story was written by Yuvraj, aged 11. Enjoy!
Treasures of the Mystery Island
My name is Tyche Kalyani and I come from a long line of royal treasure finders. You see, back when my Grandpa was alive and in his youth, people from all over, used to go in search of different treasures. But not any ordinary treasures. Treasures that are unimaginable and pointless to try and describe if you yourself hadn’t seen them. There was always one that Grandpa had always talked about but never did get. That was the greatest one, every expert treasure finder would want. He used to speak about his failure to find it with fondness, but I could tell he wish he didn’t give up. I could see from his eyes.
I have now decided to continue his legacy and look for his last treasure: ‘The Lost Gem”. Of course, I have no idea what this looks like. But perhaps Grandpa did. He died a few years ago and left me a journal with a map in it. We used to call him ‘Chatur’ or clever in a cunning way because of how his mind worked. Perhaps I’ll find a clue in it.
My father comes from and Indian background whilst my mother comes from a Japanese background, however it wasn’t them who chose my name. Grandpa did… and he named me after the Greek goddess of luck, fortune and destiny. I suppose I was quite lucky, especially in my childhood, but I need to discover my destiny. Coming from such a variety of backgrounds – and also proud of my heritage – my Grandpa used to give me books from those cultures (including Ancient Greek) to read. At 10, I had already read the Ramayan. At 12, I read the Tale of Heiki and the Illiad. And now, at 25 I have read the Odysseas, the Yukar, the majority of the Puranas and, of course, the Mahabharat. I had heard stories from the Mahabharat, many a time. It is something that has to come into my life if I forget about it. I feel like there must be a deeper meaning to Grandpa lighting my interest in this world. Perhaps I will come to know on my own journey. Luckily I think I know where to start.
The map had different destinations marked on it. The treasure finders of the past were given locations that gave clues to find the treasure and ever since they were guarded by us. Grandpa had transferred them on this map. They were in Tulum, a museum in Athens, Kyoto and Varanasi. In the journal, Grandpa wrote as follows:
I am now searching amongst the jungle of the Mayans where the Yucatan reaches the shore. The golden jaguar may give me a clue to find the Lost Treasure. Perhaps the gold will glint for me.
That was only something I would be able to understand. The jungle of the Mayans where the Yucatan reaches the shore referred to Tulum. The golden jaguar was a code our family had referring to the ruins of the Mayans in Tulum. I needed to find a piece of gold in it.
I remembered the first time he told me about the golden jaguar.
“In these jungles of Mexico, the Mayans used to live and they left behind their ruins. The most valuable one was called the golden jaguar and there are treasures are hidden amongst the ruins, unknown to anyone but us. One gold piece hides amongst the rest.”
How captivating he told me things such as this. I didn’t have to do anything since this mission of his was completed. But the rest wouldn’t be as easy.
I went up to his room to collect this piece of gold. It looked so different. Before it used to be full of life, but now… it was empty and dull. I closed my eyes and thought about him. ‘I’m still with you’ I could hear him whisper. I smiled and booked my flight to my next destination: Athens, where I needed to find the miniature statue of Tyche. Ironic. I wonder if that was the hidden meaning behind Chatur’s naming of me.
Tyche Kalyani
When I reached Greece, I was welcomed with a statue of Cyclops. I remembered it from the Odysseas. The son of Poseidon. I made my way to the museum and searched for the statue of Tyche. It would probably be hidden in a secret place. I looked everywhere, but it couldn’t be found. I collapsed onto the floor and the journal fell out of my pocket. I opened it and found a quote.
Sometimes things you expect to find are actually within plain sight.
Then I realised that right in front of me was a miniature Tyche statue made out of some sort of glass. I picked it up and placed the gold next to it. The glass shattered leaving only a key shaped piece of glass. Perhaps this was the key to the secret treasure. I looked into the key and saw my reflection. Grandpa did always used to say that the true key is you. But I guess it helps to have the actual key as well. My heart was still trying to accustom to what had just happened. This quest alone felt like something out of a movie or a book, but that statue turning into a key was almost impossible!
As I walked out of the museum, I spotted a painting from Japan of a pagoda standing high and tall. There wasn’t anything left of value in the journal that gave any clues. Then I realised, in Grandpa’s house – before he moved in with us, he owned a replica or a copy of that painting. I remember him telling me about.
A long time ago in the ancient of capital of Japan, the Emperor ruled Kyoto.
I had to give it a go. I booked my flight to Kyoto – the capital of Ancient Japan.
Tyche Kalyani
I had now officially gotten further than even Chatur. Although it would probably have been impossible without his help. I needed to go to a quieter space to find some clues. I doubt that the clue for the ‘Lost Treasure’ would be hidden in the centre of the capital of Ancient Japan. I went to a small village that was decorated beautifully. It looked as if it was the closest I could get to a well-preserved place of Ancient Japan. But how wrong I was…
All around kami or benevolent Japanese spirits were carved. I felt one of the carvings. Was that… wax? I waved the thought away, ignoring the potential danger I could be in.
In the village centre something very surprising happened. I saw Grandpa! I’m as surprised as you. I thought his funeral had happened long ago. But it was him. Definitely – but not the one I knew. He looked scared. I walked up to and gave a smile to catch his attention. Everyone in the crowd were smiling as if only good has happened to them their whole lives. He smiled back and gestured for a hug. I hugged him before interrogating him on what happened.
“What is this?”
“What?” he said trying to avoid this conversation, even though he knew perfectly well what I was talking about. His hair was slightly greyer, but other than that he was pretty much the same.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Well, you see the anti-treasure-finders organisation was after me so I had to fake my death. Ever since I have been hiding here. Perhaps here I could continue my search for the treasure. What are you doing here?”
“Looking for the treasure like you.”
“O’ so you did make good use of my journal.”
“Yes, but that’s not the point. Who are the anti-treasure finders?”
“They are the group formed in 2000, created to portray us treasure-finders in a bad light. And then want to capture us and put us in jail. They were always there. But now they are an actual organisation.”
“Why do you look so scared?”
“They’re amongst us.”
“Amongst us?”
“Yep. And what’s worse is that the worse of the worse is here. Agent Ella Pant is here looking for me. They know I’m here. They don’t know that I know they’re here too. I’ve only just realised. I overheard them speaking and heard of their plan. Something to do with fire.”
My eyes widened in horror. The statues felt like wax. Just like everything else. The whole city was made of wax. Just like in the Mahabharata. I started to speak in code to Grandpa.
“Did you hear when?”
“Tonight.”
I winced.
“The Kauravas will set Varnavat alight tonight.”
In the Mahabharata, two groups of cousins – the Pandavas and Kauravas try to gain the throne of Hastinapura. One time, the Kauravas sent the Pandavas to the House of Varnavat which was made of wax and set it alight. The heaven turned into hell.
It was already late at night by then. An hour later, fire engulfed the city. The statues of kami now turned into yokai or demons. Grandpa had already buried a hole in the ground that stretched to mainland Kyoto. We used it to escape. I hope we wouldn’t encounter them again. But I did get a clue in Japan. Grandpa had marked that spot on purpose. To collect the greatest clue. Him.
Me and Grandpa then journeyed to the most exciting leg of the trip. Varanasi. I opened to journal to find this quote:
“Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”
Tyche Kalyani
That statement seemed absolutely correct. As the sun set by the flow of the Ganges with the fire of cremation ground and the personages of unorthodox holy men inhabiting the city, an energy seemed to be present only here. As many people said, this was the land where life meets death. The Kingdom of Kashi. The oldest city in the world. It was hard to describe all of this, when a mind can’t even take in everything the city has to offer. It had endless amounts to offer.
“Varanasi. Where my journey began.” Said Grandpa. I smiled. “The next clue is in the heart of the city of Shiv. In Sarnath. Where civilisation began.”
I rushed to the heart of the city, where the beginnings of the city’s origin’s lay. On the way one of the holy men sat deep in meditation and opened his eyes as I walked past. I stopped. He shouted in the streets to piece all the pieces of the puzzle together. I didn’t know what he meant. When I got there, I was confused. It was a large land of possible ruins… but it seemed to serve no purpose. The clues in my bag fell out and I gathered them together.
Put all the piece of the puzzles together.
I understood. I pieced them together and they all fit. It resulted in a type of discus that looked like the sun. I raised it up and it aligned with the sun. It was exactly 12:00. The light refracted until it shone onto a building. I again raced across this city, as fast and careful as I could and reached the building. The main temple of this city. I waited for a long time to get inside and finally, as if it was right in front of me, I saw it.
The Lost Treasure. A crown of unexplainable beauty with jewels and diamonds covering it like a blanket on top of gold. The temple caretaker nodded as if he knew why I was there and handed it over to me.
“Thank you”, I said bowing down.
Grandpa was standing outside.
“Well done, you’ve done it. You’ve found what I never could have found. The Lost Treasure!”
The End
If you have a child who loves writing stories and essays, and you want to encourage them to explore their creativity and their imagination, then we would love to have them join our writing club! Just click on the link to register, and we will be in touch. Creative Writing Club – Registration Form.
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