One of our 13-year-olds wrote about an exciting neighborhood adventure! They even included a Part 2! Read below to find out what it’s about:
Today was a big day for my family and I, but it got even bigger when I noticed something new in my room.
Today was the day of our big yard sale. We had spent the whole week deciding on what items in our house to sell. I was so excited for this yard sale because of the chance to earn some money. As I was doing some last-minute packing, I took down a painting from the wall and put it in the pile of items I wanted to sell. As I put the painting in the pile I noticed something on the back. I took the painting out and noticed that there was some writing on the back. After looking at the back for a while, I noticed that it was a treasure map! There were many lines showing the path to get to a treasure and an X which was the spot with the treasure. Under the map, there were also some directions on how to get there, and the directions matched the path to the treasure! So, I ran out of my room as fast as I could with my painting, hopped onto the seat of my bike, and set off to find the treasure.
After 30 minutes of searching, I finally reached the spot where the treasure would be. I looked at the back of the painting for any more directions and it read that the treasure would be in the bush closest to where I was standing. I looked everywhere until I noticed a bush next to a stop sign at the beginning of the street. I ran over to the bush and after some digging inside the bush, pulled out a cardboard box.
I set the cardboard box on the ground right next to me and thought about what could be in the box. It could be a new video game, a phone, maybe even some gold coins. So, I opened the cardboard box to find…….. another cardboard box?
I was surprised by what I had found, but thought that the real treasure would be inside the cardboard box. So, I opened the box and saw that it was filled with packaging pellets. I turned the box over to let all the pellets fall and that’s when I saw a small cardboard box fall on the pellets. I picked the box up and opened itthe only thing inside was a piece of paper and it read: “Ha Ha!”
I was surprised and filled with anger, my face turned a bright red right when I saw that piece of paper. So, I looked around to see if anyone was watching this prank unfold. To my left, I saw a kid holding a box with a lot of toys. At once, I realized that this was the box I put my toys that I wanted to sell, and I immediately ran after him. The thief turned around and spotted me chasing after him. Immediately, he started to run. I ran as fast as I could and I thought I had him but sadly. I tripped over a rock and fell onto the concrete. I was okay, but I lost the thief and my money. I then walked back home with my head down, feeling defeated.
Part 2
As I walked back home, I couldn’t think of anything but my stolen toys. The more I thought about them, the angrier I was. Even though I was planning to sell all the toys in that box, I was still mad. Eventually, I got to the point when I couldn’t bear losing my toys and decided to get them back. I ran home so that I could come up with my plan.
At first, I had a very hard time coming up with my plan. Nothing seemed to work because I didn’t know where his house was. However, I knew which neighborhood he lived in, but I still didn’t have enough information to come up with a plan. I then thought about ringing every doorbell in that neighborhood and ask them if anyone had a huge box full of toys. This seemed like a good plan at first, but then I realized that the culprit would recognize me from the chase. So, he would obviously lie about the toys. Finally, after 2 hours of coming up with plans, I decided to take a break and ride my bike around the street. After riding for a bit, I noticed a flyer attached to a lamp post in our street. I rode my bike closer to the lamp post and I was able to see the flyer. It read: “Come to the Smith’s Family Yard Sale on July 8th” “From 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM”. “Maybe they have my stolen toys!” I thought. I looked at the address and noticed that it was the neighborhood that the culprit lived in. Suddenly, my plan was as clear as water in my mind
Here was my plan: I would first take the exact same box I used to package my toys as a decoy. Then I would go to the neighborhood at 1:50 PM, which would be when they would be setting up. Then I would walk around the neighborhood, making sure not to show my face otherwise the thief would recognize me. Then, when no one was looking, I would switch the box full of toys with the decoy, and run. I knew my plan was going to work! Finally, the day came where I would get back my toys. I set an alarm for myself at 1:45 PM so I could get to the neighborhood on time. In the meantime, I just decided to rest and watch YouTube videos. After what felt like 5 minutes, the time was 1:45 PM and my alarm went off. Immediately, I ran to the garage, grabbed the decoy box, and ran as fast as I could to the neighborhood. After a few minutes of running, I reached my destination. I looked over to see where the yard sale was, and it was the first house on the street, which would mean I’d have a short escape route. I kept walking around the neighborhood waiting until I was sure that no one was looking immediately, so I ran over to the house. There was a table which had all the stuff they were planning to sell. I kept searching the table until I found one box that looked like the box where I had kept my toys. I peeked in to check and I saw all my toys in there! I then took out my decoy box and put it in place for the box full of MY toys. I then ran out of the neighborhood, luckily no one saw me. I had gotten my toys back and feeling more proud than ever, walked back home with my head high.
Sequoia Scholars 