space/ click/ tap if u cant see it, here it is: I flop onto my bed after a long day of dance. I can barely feel my legs because of all the extension work and fouettes. My best friend, Luci, also just came from class. “What do you want to do?” she asks. “I don’t know,” I respond. “C’mon Sofi,” she presses, “have you ever been in the attic up there?” “No…” “Well then today’s the day to change that,” Luci decides. “But,” I start. “Nope, we’re going and you’ll like it!” “Fine,” I huff, “but let me get changed first.” “Good idea.” I throw on some leggings and a sweatshirt and motion for Luci to follow. I grab a backpack to put supplies in. Luci gives me a skeptical look. “Just in case,” I say. I throw in my phone, charger, and some snacks. For a moment, I hesitate, what if we can’t find a way out? What will we find? What if it’s an interdimensional portal? I shake the thoughts out of my head and walk back to my room. “Ready!” “Good,” Luci says with an eye roll. I take a shaky breath and walk towards my closet. I pull the string that opens the attic door and a ladder swings down. I extend it and ask Luci if she wants to go first. “Duh!” she responds. “Be my guest.” Luci starts climbing up the ladder like an energetic monkey. As soon as she climbs the last rung, I hear her gasp and wonder what she found. I take a deep breath and nimbly climb the ladder. I enter the attic and am greeted by what seems like a new world. “Wow,” I breathe. It’s like a personal library, my dream house. How did I never know that this was here? I could spend hours just lost in a book on the handing moon chair I see in the corner. I immediately start wandering around only to find more and more books. Taking each one off the shelf and examining them. I find many classics such as Little Women but also find other newer ones like Hunger Games and Divergent. My only wish is to just grab the nearest book, sit down, and read it from cover to cover. My thoughts are interrupted by Luci. “I can’t believe that all this was up here and you didn’t know about it!” “That's exactly what I was thinking,” I say in disbelief. Just when I think things cannot get any better, they do. I reach to grab a book entitled The Lost Lighthouse and instead of picking up the book, it only lurches forward and I see a gold button. Of course, I was curious so I pressed it. Luci walks over. “What in the world did you find, Sofi?” She questions. “Good question,” I mumble. One of the walls swings backwards and I step into a minimally furnished room. I only see a chair and a table with a box on it. I cautiously walk over to the box and pick it up. It sounds like there’s nothing in it. The only sound is a rattle of a lock. I start wandering around the room to see if I can find a key. After about five minutes I come across a small piece of paper. It sticks out from under a table that I hadn’t noticed before. (*cntd*)
The paper reads: The key you seek, has already been found. Think back on the item that led you here, a book very near. “The book that brought us here?” I say, “But there’s like a bajillion books!” “Wait, do you remember which book opened up the door thing?” Luci exclaims, “I think that's what the riddle is talking about!” “Ohhh, that makes sense,” I say, “Let me think.” “It was called The Lost Lighthouse,” I tell Luci after a second. “Let's go!” We run out of the door/ shelf thing and I immediately find the still-tilted book. I examine it. There’s no key that I can see though. “There’s no key, it must be a combination lock,” I tell Luci. “Nice thinking,” she responds. The only number that I can find is the ISBN, 7820. I sprint over to the case and input the code. After some struggle, I get the code right and click the lock open. In the case is another single strip of paper. It says: Now you will find, a book in a bind. To the left you seek, the item nor little, nor meek. “I’m so confused, all I’m getting from this is that it's a big book with lots of pages to the left of the room,” I say. “Honestly, what’s the benefit of this,” Luci sighs. “True but you're not a little bit curious?” I counter. “Yeah.” “See, it’ll be fun!” We walk out of the room and to the left. There are so many books that I can’t choose which one to start with. Finally, I decide on a thick book with a forest green spine and gold lettering. I open it up to shake out all of the pages to see if a note or key will fall out. After instructing Luci to do the same, a piece of paper, slightly larger than the last, falls out of a book. The slip says: then you wiLl go In and out, up and aBout. ReAd and Read then You will find what you are looking for. 25. “This is so confusing!” I say. “For real!” Luci replies. “Wait, why are there random letters capitalized? I’m not a scientist but I feel like they have to mean something.” “Good question, I think they spell out,” I pause, thinking for a minute, “Library?” “I think that means we have to go to the library,” Luci decides. “But how will we know what to look for?” “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” We walk out of the attic and out of the house. Luckily, the library is only a block away from my house so we were there in a minute. We walk through the library doors and go to the seating area so we can think. “What if the number at the end was a room number?” I ask. “I think you might be right!” Luci replies. We scour the back wall looking for a room numbered 25. On the way over, I see a book about Maleficent. Finally, I spot it and check if the door is locked. It isn’t! I lead and Luci follows me in. On the desk is an unlocked chest similar to the one on the table in the attic. I open it and see a Barnes and Noble gift card for $100! I squeal in delight and start immediately planning a trip to my favorite store. An hour later I find myself lost in one of the books I found in the attic, curled up on the hanging moonchair. THE END (I want to make a longer and better version soon, this ones kinda rushed) sry for the cringy riddles XD
