July/August 2023

Paige stumbles on an adventure that momentarily takes her mind off her friends’ disagreements Paige ran outside from the back door of her house with a soccer ball in her hand. The sun hung high in the sky, and a few wisps of clouds slowly drifted above the Earth. School was starting soon, and Paige wanted to spend every last minute of freedom basking in the August sun. Her twin brother, Luke, was already outside reading a book in a chair on the patio. Their backyard was barren except for the oak tree that their father had planted a few years ago, and a small patio. A six-foot-high fence outlined the perimeter of the backyard, and a small shed was placed near the corner. Paige started to climb up the large oak tree, then sat down on a branch high above the ground. Her mother had always told her to stop climbing the tree in fear that she might break a bone, but Paige never listened to her. She loved how far she could see from the tree; it made her feel like she was surveying the land with a golden crown atop her head. Some days, she tried to get Luke to climb the tree with her, but he always declined. Earlier that day, Paige had been walking home from a friend’s house. She was supposed to stay there for a bit longer, but things ended abruptly when her friends got into a fight. Maria kept saying that she always did what Trey wanted to do, whereas he never did the same for her. She kept asking him if they could watch the movie she’d been waiting for all year, but he refused to. Trey kept arguing that Maria hardly even hung out with them anymore. Paige didn’t say anything the entire time. She was worried that her friends would hate her if she took sides. This seemed to happen to her again and again, and it made her feel like she was suffocating or drowning underwater. Sometimes she wanted to scream at them, but she never did. Eventually, Paige climbed back down from the treetop. She kicked her soccer ball high into the air and watched it soar above her head before it came back down. Her father was the one who got her into soccer. When she was seven, he used to teach her about the different positions, such as the goalie or the midfielder. “The midfielder plays both offensive and defensive,” her father used to tell her. “They’re arguably the most important position on a soccer team.” Paige kicked the ball high up into the air and watched it soar past the oak tree. She started to run towards it, but tripped and fell flat on her face. After getting up, she started to head towards the ball again, but stopped when something caught her eye. She saw something shining from the rock that she had tripped on. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the rock wasn’t a rock at all. It seemed like some sort of container that was buried. Paige’s curiosity got the better of her, and soon enough she was heading over to the shed to grab a shovel. “Hey, what are you doing?” “Nothing,” Paige replied. “It’s none of your business.” Luke stared at her, but eventually went back to reading his book. Paige walked back to the place where she had tripped and started to dig. After several minutes, Paige bent down to take a closer look at what she had uncovered. It was a gray wooden box with golden accents. It had a silver lock and an envelope taped to the top. The box was covered in dirt and looked like it had been there for years. Paige ripped the envelope off the box and set it beside her. She thought about trying to open the lock with her hands but decided that this would be futile. Instead, she picked up the envelope and flipped it backwards. There was nothing on the back except for a stamp that looked like a cardinal. “What’s that?” Paige jumped and turned around. She looked up and saw her brother staring at the envelope in her hand. “It’s nothing important,” Paige said, as she tried to hide the envelope from him. Luke looked at her skeptically and then darted his eyes towards the box. “Where did you find that? It was buried here, wasn’t it? That’s why you needed the shovel.” Before Paige could say anything, Luke ripped the envelope out of her hands. “Hey, give that back!” “I’m not giving it to you until you tell me where you found this.” “I’ll tell you if you give it back first.” “I won’t give it back unless you tell me.” “Fine,” Paige grumbled. “I found this box buried under the tree with the envelope taped to it. Now will you give it back?” Luke tossed the envelope back to Paige and then bent down to look at the box. Paige tore the envelope open and took out a folded piece of paper that had To Marcus written on it. Paige unfolded the piece of paper, which turned out to be a letter. “So what’s in the envelope?” Luke asked as he sat down next to her. “A letter,” Paige replied. “For someone named Marcus.” She looked back down at the letter and slowly read what it said: Dear Marcus, How have you been? It’s been a while since we last saw each other. I hope that all is well. If you are reading this, then I am dead. By the time you have found this letter, my funeral will already be over. I trust that you have received the letter I have sent you, so you may know why I have brought you here. I will not repeat what I have said in fear that this letter has fallen into the wrong hands. The only advice I have for you is to find