I sighed, as a stray breeze blew my long auburn hair in wisps across my face. I could think of nothing better than this: no school, no chores, just me and the beautiful spring day. Of course, the whole reason for this midday stroll was to fetch Parsley, one of our cows who had wandered off, but that didn’t really matter, I’d take any excuse to get out of the hot kitchen stirring the dinner until my arms felt like they were going to break in two.

I stopped and brushed my hair back behind my ears. A quick glance at the sun told me I should probably be stopping for lunch soon. I sat down on a large rock to my left and was about to pull my mayo-and-cheese sandwich out of the tin pail I had carried it in, when something glimmered in the dirt catching my eye.

Immediately , forgetting my sandwich, I fell to my knees and started digging and clawing with my fingers, taking no heed that the clean white sundress that just a few hours before I had promised my mom would be just as white when I returned, was now muddy and covered in grass stains. As I continued digging, the shiny piece of metal -which had been the cause of the excavation- appeared to be some sort of handle attached to an old plywood board. I became more excited and started to dig faster.

Rumor had it that over a hundred years ago, an old explorer had come to the valley. He had been wealthy, and right before he died, had buried all his savings in a wooden box and no one had ever found it. I sat back on my heels and examined my work. I had removed every bit of dirt and grass from the top of what I was becoming more and more certain was the explorer’s lost treasure. The plywood was about a foot across and about as wide. I figured it was at least that deep.

Another glance at the sun told me I had less than an hour of light left, and I still hadn’t found Parsley. Noticing my dress for the first time, I blushed even though I was the only person to see it. I wouldn’t have time to dig the box up tonight, especially since the only tools I had were my sore, bleeding fingers, but maybe I could pull the box open from the handle without having to uproot it from the ground.

Giving it as hard a yank as I could muster, I grasped at what I saw! I had read about such things happening in books, but never dreamed they happened in reality. I, Annette Simpson, was staring down into a secret underground hideaway! Perfectly chiseled stone steps descended from where I was standing. The sun was setting rapidly and I couldn’t see any farther  into the hole, so I shut the trap door with a bang, and ran for home as fast as I could. Tomorrow, I’d be back. Fully equipped for the trip into the unknown dark depths of the earth.