Acried Sclands 

The three hopped in Alyssa’s car and drove to the oldest discovered waterfall on the island. As they arrived and hopped out the car, they realized it was packed with tourists. They didn’t know where to look, or what to find. “Are we looking for another message in a bottle?” Vincent asked. “I don’t know, but I think we should look anywhere that doesn’t look… Well, obvious.” Bailey suggested.&nbsp; While running past the souvenir shops, Alyssa noticed a cave behind the waterfall. “Guys look! It's a cave behind the waterfall!” She pointed, “The next clue could be there!” “Epic! But how are we gonna enter there without anyone noticing?” Vincent asked. Bailey grinned, “we could sneak in tonight. Lets go to the store and buy equipment for our break-in”&nbsp; Alyssa and Vincent looked at Bailey weirdly, then looked at each other. “That’s an excellent idea!” They both exclaimed.

They drove to the store and bought head flashlights, water shoes, snacks for dinner, and appropriate clothing for that condition. After they paid, they went straight back to the waterfall’s location. Parking in the parking lot, the three went to hide behind a bush so no one could spot them. They ate their snacks for dinner, and waited for the area to close. “Ugh, 'i'm bored.” Bailey complained. “Same” Vincent sighed. “Well play a game, or find some sticks and leaves to play with.” Alyssa whispered looking at them. She looked away, then suddenly looked back at them “But quietly.” As soon as the area closed, they turned on their head flashlights and entered the wet cave. Bailey walked up to Alyssa and held her hand. “I’m scared,” she whispered. Alyssa squeezed her hand and looked at her. Smiling, she said, “don’t worry, this is nothing.” They kept walking and flashing their lights around the cave, until Vincent slightly tripped over something. “Guys I think I found something.” He whispered while picking it up.&nbsp; Handing it to Alyssa, she whispered, “It’s a box.” Looking at Bailey and Vincent, she smirked with relief, “let's get out of here.”

“I uh- I opened one of the letters and it seemed that this treasure was meant for one specific person.” Alyssa answered. “Ah yes!” The policeman said “Yeah um- a woman actually announced the treasure. Because this box, uh- what you found is actually made by&nbsp;the woman's lover, well husband. They sent each other these um- letters, since the woman’s father wouldn’t allow them to see each other. It’s actually like- surprising to know how much they love each other, because they would've found someone else. But no, they- they stayed together. And when the man had gotten sick, he uh- made this treasure for her. He made it for her to remember him after he would pass.”&nbsp; “Woahhh” The two siblings said in awe. “The sad part is that the woman never got to see the treasure. And yes she has passed now” The policeman continued. “Welp, our people will take a closer look at this treasure and maybe place it in the museum. Thank you for your time. You may go to your hotel now.” They drove to the hotel room jumping onto the bed, tired from digging. “Y'all can we bake?” Alyssa asked. “Bake? Are you gonna forget what just happened?” Bailey chuckled. “Well, your parents are coming back here later tonight and I wanna surprise them with our story and creme puffs.” Alyssa explained. “Well that sounds fun.” Vincent agreed while washing his hands.

They found their way out of the cave and ran to the car. “Okay, now that was cool. It gave me anxiety, but it was cool.” Vincent laughed.&nbsp; They drove to the hotel exhausted. “Come on, let's go into our room and open the box up.” Alyssa said as her eyes drooped down. They entered the room and looked at the clock, Alyssa’s eyes widened, “eleven twenty-three!” “Ugh I'm tired~” she complained, hopping onto the bed. “We’ll get some sleep once we open the box.” Vincent said while observing it. Alyssa looked at him, grabbed scissors from the room's kitchen and handed it to Vincent. He cut the string holding the box and opened it up. It was holding a piece of folded paper, and when unfolded it showed a map.&nbsp; “Woah is that a map to the final treasure?” Bailey looked in awe. “We will find out tomorrow. After. We. Get. Some. Sleep.” Alyssa sassily said getting ready in bed. The next morning they got ready, and drove off to the store to buy some items. “Water… Check! Uh, shovel… Check!”&nbsp;Alyssa said.

Bailey and Vincent stared at her, “uh… Alyssa- Why are you double checking if you are just buying two items?” Vincent awkwardly asked. Alyssa’s face turned red “Uh- good point! Eh… Well I- It’s just good to know I have everything.” After paying for the water and shovel, they hopped in the car. Suddenly a moment of silence began after entering. After a while, Alyssa looked back at the kids and asked, “Where exactly do we head to?” Bailey looked at the map, “The same place we found the bottle.” She explained. “Okay here we- Hold up!” Alyssa looked at the kids, “we were above the treasure at the beginning?!” The silence continued with the two, both giving the “Yup” face. Alyssa sighed, “Welp, okay.” They drove off to the beach, and into the area where the bottle was found. Bailey looked at the space, “Where exactly do we start digging? This area is like 15 ft. to 20 ft. or something.” She estimated shrugging her shoulders.&nbsp; “Just keep digging anywhere till we find something.” Vincent suggested.

“Guys! I think I found something!” Alyssa shouted. “Yes, we know my jackets there” Bailey rolled her eyes. “No, it's something else. It looks like a bottle…” Alyssa questioned. “A message in a bottle!” Vincent exclaimed while his eyes lit up. “Come on Alyssa! Pick it up!” Alyssa picked it up and was surprised that it was clean. “Huh! That's odd. This bottle is a bit- too clean”&nbsp; “Maybe it's been sitting there for a long time, meaning no one has really touched it” Bailey shrugged while picking up her jacket. “Well what are you waiting for?! Open it up!” Vincent couldn’t be more patient, he even ignored the fact his stomach growled. “Alright chill. I’ll open it up but as soon as we read it, we are heading to a restaurant for lunch. Okay?” Alyssa said laying her hand on the cork.&nbsp; She popped open the cork, slowly took the scroll out, unwrapped the ribbon, and opened it up to see what it said.

“Salmon needs me, gravity uses me. At a distance I look gorgeous, but get too close and I become hazardous. If you do see me I am actually pretty tall. What am I?Your next clue lies in this answer.”&nbsp; “This clue is pretty hard…” Alyssa worried, “let's try to find out over lunch” They exited the beach and headed for the nearest restaurant.&nbsp; “Ughh, I’m soo full” Vincent complained, placing down his utensils on his empty dish. “Welp it’s time to work our brains,” Bailey said, taking the message in a bottle out of Alyssa’s bag. Pulling it towards her face, she read, “Salmon needs me, gravity uses me. At a distance I look gorgeous, but get too close and I become hazardous. If you do see me I am actually pretty tall. What am I?” She bent forward, resting her head on her palm, “ Hmm, I’m stumped.”&nbsp; “Well, let’s start out with Salmon” Alyssa suggested with a mouthful of food in her mouth. “What do salmon need? What’s the first thing that pops in mind?”

“Water” Vincent shrugged. “Okay nice start. What body of water though?” Alyssa asked. “Ocean? I don’t know” He guessed. “Uhh, well... are oceans… tall?” Alyssa asked looking at the piece of paper. “I mean, they are deep.” Bailey said. “Yeah but they don’t really appear deep when we look at it. We just know it is deep.” Vincent shrugged with an awkward laugh. “Ok smarty-pants, what other body of water is tall? Huh!” Bailey rolled her eyes. The table was quiet, the three were thinking so hard no one there made a peep.&nbsp; “Ahah! A waterfall!” Alyssa blurt out, making almost the whole restaurant look at her. Embarrassed, she said “A tall body of water could be a waterfall.” “That’s it Alyssa!” Vincent snapped, “waterfalls are beautiful from afar, but are crazy when you're too close!”&nbsp; “Oh yeah! But there could be multiple waterfalls on this island.” Bailey added. “Well we could just search the oldest one!” Alyssa suggested, “come on guys! Let's go!”

The ferry landed at the famous vacation island, Acried Sclands. They grabbed their belongings and headed to the line to exit the ferry. “Hurry up Vincent!” Mrs Wenders called.&nbsp; “Wait! I can’t find my jacket!”&nbsp; “I have it, don’t worry!” Mr Wenders shouted.&nbsp; Waiting for them was a young woman standing at the bottom of the exit, “Hi Mrs Wenders!” the woman said. That young woman was named Alyssa, a babysitter paid to babysit Bailey and Vincent while Mrs. and Mr. Wenders explore a different part of the island.&nbsp; “Good evening Alyssa, you’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you” Mrs Wenders smiled. In fact Mrs Wenders used to babysit Alyssa when she was her age. “Well, we will be off to our hotel and leave first thing in the morning, yes?” &nbsp;“Yes Mrs Wenders, have a good night” Alyssa said with a wave.&nbsp; The family headed to the most beautiful hotel they had ever visited. “Ooooo I like the mixture of fancy and modern,” Mr Wenders commented, “you kids are lucky y'all will be staying here while we’re gone.”&nbsp;

The next morning, the family drove to the bus station to drop off Mrs Wenders and Mr Wenders. “Hi Alyssa!” Mrs Wenders greeted. “Hi!” Alyssa smiled. Bailey looked at her mom, “why can’t we go with you?” she complained, “we don’t wanna miss out on the fun.”&nbsp; “I’m sure you’ll find fun with-” Mrs Wenders said interrupted by an announcement. “Well that is our que, bye Bailey, bye Vincent! Be good to your sitter!”&nbsp; “Bye Mrs and Mr Wenders! Have a fun trip!” Alyssa exclaimed with a big wave.&nbsp; As soon as they left, the two siblings took a long look at Alyssa, squinting their eyes as if they were critics looking at an art piece. Alyssa looked at them back in complete awkwardness. With a huge surprise she came back with a “Boo!” Making the two flinch back. “Stop with the staring, it's creeping me out” She said with an awkward laugh. “Anyway what do guys wanna do?” There was no answer for 2 straight minutes until Vincent let out a big gasp.&nbsp; He pulled out the kids menu from his bag, it was pretty wrinkled up and had a ketchup stain on the corner but that didn’t bother him. “Can we try doing this?” he said in excitement while shoving the paper into Alyssa’s face. “Oh yeah! I forgot

about that” Bailey said with excitement bursting in her eyes.&nbsp; Reading in her mind, Alyssa nodded with approval. “Sure! We could use an adventure.” Bailey and Vincent leaped in delight. “Well stop the clatter, where shall we look first?”&nbsp; The first location that popped in their mind, and reminded them of treasure was “The Beach!” The two exclaimed.&nbsp; They looked everywhere at the beach, under rocks, in the water, and everywhere possible. The problem with their search is that they don’t know exactly what they’re looking for. “This is so frustrating, I might as well give up soon” Bailey complained with a sigh. “Me too, we have been looking for three hours. I’m starving” Vincent continued as his stomach growled.&nbsp; “Well the treasure was your idea, so if you give up. I am giving up as well.” Alyssa followed, “come on let's go find a place to eat.” The wind became stronger, pulling Bailey’s jacket out her waist. “Agh my jacket!” She shouted. The thin jacket blew far from the exit, leading to the part of the beach no one has really entered. The jacket stopped blowing in the air and landed on a rock. As Alyssa was about to pick it up, something caught her eye.

I dedicate this book to my family and friends.

The three dug for what seemed to be an eternity, until Bailey hit something hard, looking at them in surprisement. They dug until all of the box was exposed, and started pulling it out of the sand.&nbsp; “No way!” Alyssa smirked, “I can’t believe we actually found a treasure.” Vincent chuckled, “no joke.” They busted the lock with the shovel and opened it up. Inside was a bunch of old letters and a sack of gold with a dead rose lying on top of the letters. Alyssa opened one of the letters and gasped, “guys… I think this treasure was meant for a specific person.” The two looked at each other, and back at Alyssa. “I think we should contact the police, and tell them we found the treasure.” Bailey suggested. After dialing 911, the police along with a few museum employees arrived after seven minutes. As the team of museum employees grab the treasure, the bottle, and the box. The police ask Alyssa, Vincent, and Bailey a few questions. “Ah- …&nbsp;I- …” Alyssa stuttered while the policeman was writing on a little notepad. “You may speak.” The policeman insisted, looking at her.

Entering the restaurant, Bailey and Vincent skip to their seats. “Woah! It's so fancy!” “And it smells extraordinary!” The siblings exclaim while they observe the restaurant. “This is so exciting! Eating on a boat for the first time!” “Now calm down kids, save your energy for them crab legs”&nbsp;Mr. Wenders smirked.&nbsp; Chuckling and continuing their conversation, the waiter approaches with a bright smile. “Hello guys! I will be your waiter today.” Handing out the menu, she said with a grin, “let me know when you decide what to order.”&nbsp; As soon as the waiter left their table, everyone opened their menu. “There are so many delicious options, I can’t seem to choose what to order” Mrs Wenders chuckled. Bailey and Vincent wouldn’t even look at the food, something caught their eye on the kids' menu. “Hidden Treasure buried on Acried Sclands, if found please contact the police'' the back of the menu stated. The siblings look at each others eyes, as if they were communicating with each other. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”&nbsp; “You bet!” they told each other with what seemed to be face signals.

By: Callie Mananghaya 6th Grade collaborative project with Ms. Blue and Mrs. Dahl Patrick Henry Math, Science, Technology Magnet 2020

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