Ashley
admired her nails as she walked home. At Kristin’s house, they had spent the
last hour giving each other manicures. They had gotten out all of Kristin’s 31
different colors of nail polish and made beautiful designs on their nails. The
one that Ashley was particularly proud of was a pink and yellow flower on her
index finger.
Completely
wrapped up in her nails, she didn’t notice the sound at first. She was near the
playground when the sound finally penetrated into her hearing. It was almost
like tinkling bells that were playing some kind of song. Looking around her,
she was surprised to see that the playground was deserted. This was a popular
park and there was nearly always someone playing there.
The minute
Ashley began to pay attention to the bells, they grew louder. Intrigued, she
went to find where they were coming from. She started heading across the field,
and the music drew her to the sandbox. Yes, the music was definitely coming
from underneath the sand. Had someone buried something here?
Not wanting
to dirty her nails, Ashley gingerly poked her foot around the sand. The music
was getting louder and seemed to be right underneath her feet. She started
digging with her heels, but it wasn’t very effective. She admired her nails one
more time before grabbing a small shovel that someone had thoughtfully left
there.
Slowly at
first, she dug into the soft sand. As the music continued to taunt her, she
moved more quickly, wondering what in the world someone had buried this deeply.
What could possibly be making so much noise?
After
digging for at least twenty minutes, the small shovel finally hit something
solid. With relief, Ashley dug around it and brought it out of the hole with
her. She was surprised that she had dug so far down into the sand. She
remembered when she and Kristin had tried to dig to China here. They hadn’t
gotten very far before they ran into a bed of clay that was almost impossible
to dig into.
Now, Ashley
had a hard time climbing out of a hole that was almost as tall as she was.
Finally, she emerged and brought her prize over to a bench. It was a wooden
box, about the same size as a box of cereal.
Setting it
on her lap, she carefully lifted the lid and saw—a book. The music had finally
stopped, and she couldn’t tell where it had been coming from. The book looked
very old, and once she took it out of the box, there was nothing else there.
The thick covers were made of purple velvet, and it was quite heavy. There were
no other markings.
Making
herself comfortable, Ashley opened the book on her lap. The first page read: “Congratulations
to you, Ashley! You have been chosen to join this year’s ranks of junior
witches and you are invited to attend Dragon Eye Academy. You have passed the
first test: finding this book. To continue your magical journey, come join the
Dragon Eye Open House to discuss what’s next for you and your family. We look
forward to seeing all of you this evening at 7:30 PM. Your new witch mentor
will escort you and your family to the meeting and will be waiting outside your
front door.”
Looking
down at her watch, Ashley discovered that it was nearly 6 PM already. It would
be time for dinner soon, and she couldn’t be late. Tucking the book under her
arm, she raced home as fast as she could. The two blocks passed by in a blur as
she completely forgot about her newly painted nails. She had much more important
things to worry about now.
