The Map

The Map

Terry looked at the map, finally figuring out what things meant, he was ready to hunt for the treasure. Realizing what was water and land was easy, but there were too many bodies of water to be clear until he realized the squiggly lines represented hills, the closer together the squiggles the higher the hill. Now he knew where he was on the map and could follow it.

He’d found it in the old house’s attic, at first, interesting, perhaps drawn by a creative child? But as Terry looked more, he began to feel it could be real, and that it was nearby. First it wasn’t cheap paper, and not crayon or colored pencil. Real ink, in colors that had faded as the paper got stiffer and yellowed.

He set off at first light going directly to the body of water closest to the hill (that he now understood to be a hill) that the path crossed. It took hours to get to the last spot, but it was fairly straightforward. There were no houses around, so the land hadn’t changed much, overgrown in places, proof that no one had been here, but easy for Terry to get through. Arriving at the last hill he found it to be very rocky, there was probably a cave! Excitedly, he flew up the path, finding the cave and easily getting through the brush covering the opening. It was very dim inside, but he could see a box already!

Prying open the lid he felt giddy! His imagination going wild! Finally, it creaked open, inside, piles and piles of money. Oh well… it could have been worse; it could have been empty.

He supposed he could use it… to line his nest? Unfortunately, money wasn’t all that useful, to a mouse.