Elsie and the Treasure Map
Inside the farmhouse, everything felt too quiet.
“Mama,” said Elsie, “you promised you’d look at the map with me tonight.”
Elsie had found an old scrap of paper tucked away in the barn. It looked to her like a treasure map!
Her mother paused, hands full, eyes tired.
“I know,” she said. “But not tonight, Elsie. Maybe tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Elsie grumbled, turning away.
She stomped up the stairs to her room and sat on her bed, heart thumping.
“What if there is a treasure right by our house?” mused Elsie. “It could have been buried by pirates! What do you think, Cody?”
Cody was Elsie’s beloved plush sheepdog with a secret only she knew – he could talk!
“Well,” he said thoughtfully. “Treasures are not always where you expect them to be.”
Later, Elsie fell asleep with the map on her nightstand and Cody curled beside her, his button eyes shining like stars in the moonlight.
The moon poured light through the farmhouse window.
Elsie woke to the sound of waves. She opened her eyes to find...
she was in a boat!
Cody sat beside her.
He was wearing a pirate hat.
And an eye patch.
He had the map!
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Cody grinned. “To find the treasure!”
They sailed into a sea of stars, pulled along by a shining moonbeam.
Soon, a single bright Star rose from the water and hovered in their path, bringing the boat to a gentle stop.
“Halt! Who sails the starry sea?” the Star called.
“Captain Elsie and First Mate Cody!”
“Why are you sailing away from home instead of sleeping in your warm bed?” the Star asked.
Elsie hesitated.
The Star drifted closer.
“Many follow treasure maps,” it said. “But not everyone knows what they are truly looking for.”
Elsie gripped the edge of the boat.
The Star glowed brighter.
“Remember to look up at the stars when you are unsure which path you are choosing.”
Cody and Elsie sailed on. The map’s path circled them back to the shore.
The boat slid softly onto the sand.
Elsie jumped out and looked at the map.
The map was blank.
“Uh-oh,” said Cody.
Elsie’s throat tightened.
She tilted her head and looked up.
The sky glittered.
The stars stretched into a faint, glowing path—
She took a breath.
“Come on, Cody,” she said.
“Let’s follow the stars.”
Soon, ahead in the distance, they saw the wooden bench in their own garden—the one where Elsie often sat with her mom to look at the flowers.
She walked up to the bench and touched it gently.
She sat down.
Then she scooped up Cody, hugged him tight and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again,
she was back in her bed.
It was still nighttime.
She could hear that Mama was still working.
Elsie slipped from her bed and padded down the stairs.
Her mother looked up, surprised.
Elsie didn’t say anything.
She climbed into her mother’s lap and wrapped her arms around her neck.
Her mother sighed and hugged her back.