Hidden Adventures

It was a brisk January morning, there was a slight frost on the ground, and leaving the house required a jacket. Emmy was brushing her teeth in a hurry, she had slept through her alarm and her best friend Ramona was going to arrive any moment. They were going thrifting, something they enjoyed doing together. Emmy daydreamed of the interesting trinkets shed find that day, maybe some vintage dresses, or really cool handbags. Slowly drifting back into reality, Emmy spit and rinsed, gave her long auburn hair a quick brush and tossed it in a ponytail, as she sped out of the bathroom. Just as she reached the kitchen, the doorbell rang, Ramona was there. “Coming” yelled Emmy, as she hustled towards the door, grabbing her coat along the way. Emmy opened the door, “Good morning lady, ready to go?” “Just about” replied Emmy, “I just have to throw some shoes on”.

A couple minutes later, the girls were in Ramona’s Toyota, on their way to the first thrift store of the day, Annie’s Trinkets & Treasures, a store that had been in business for decades and their absolute favourite! Ramona parked the car and they headed inside while yammering on about work, and college classes. As they walked in, Emmy’s bright blue eyes lit up with excitement, she gazed around the store deciding where to start the hunt. “there!” she said with certainty, as she pointed to an area of the store that held bags, purses and various old jewelry boxes. Emmy made her way across the store, while Ramona decided to start with dresses. There were quite a few interesting purses and bags to look at. A black one with pink flowers, a pea green one with sequins, and a brown leather one with incredible patterned stitching. Emmy settled on the most unique, but gorgeous purse, it was brightly colored, with this amazing animal scene on the front, it was like something out of fairy tale. Emmy could not wait to get It home. She hurried over to where Ramona was to show off her find.

By noon Emmy and Ramona were exhausted and ready to head home with their finds. Emmy started rummaging through her purchases the moment she walked in her front door. There were dresses, scarves, sunglasses and her purse. She grabbed the purse and sat down to admire it. It had so many pockets inside, she thought about what she would keep in each one. As she opened each zipper, she suddenly came across one with something in it. Emmy looked up at Ramona with shock all over her face. “There is something in here!” She said excitedly. “What is it?” shrieked Ramona. Just then, Emmy pulled out a small, leather black book, it was a few inches bigger than a matchbook. The pages were crisp and white. Emmy looked at Ramona with excitement and curiosity, as she opened the little black book. Immediately she noticed a small silver key taped to the inside cover, her curiosity grew more. She flipped to the first page, and there in big bold writing was “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU FOUND ME. THE ADVENTURE BEGINS NOW” Emmy’s eyes widened with pure shock, she had no idea what this meant, but she had to find out. The next page had simple instructions in tiny printing, Emmy would have to complete a set of challenges listed within the book, and if she did so successfully, she’d be given the location of where the key belongs and win the prize that’s currently locked up. She read further and discovered this was planted by a widely known YouTube sensation Kylee Briggs.

Everyone loved her. “Ready to do this, Ramona?” “Absolutely!” replied Ramona both excitedly and nervous.

The girls jumped on YouTube, searched for Kylee and commented on her most recent video, that they had found the little black book and were eager to start the challenges. It wasn’t long before they received a notification for Kylee’s newest video. She told her viewers about her contest and that Emmy and Ramona had found the book and she would be following along as they completed the challenges.

The first challenge the girls needed to complete was “Five acts of kindness”. “Easy” said Emmy. From paying for someone’s lunch to clearing all the carts in the grocery store parking lot, challenge one was completed. Challenge number two required cleaning up a local beach, that was exhausting but Emmy and Ramona did it with a smile. Challenge three involved finding a local place of business that needed some painting or easy reno work and finishing it for them. The girls painted the walls of the communities favorite Diner, they chose a gorgeous deep blue. It looked amazing when they were done, and the owner Ms. Robbins was extremely grateful.

As they were completing their challenges, Kylee checked in with them, and followed along. She made videos about each challenge they completed. 3 days later, the girls were on the last challenge, which meant they needed to volunteer their time somewhere. They chose to serve at a local soup kitchen. They spent the afternoon, listening to people’s stories and gaining a new respect for the communities homeless. As they Left the soup kitchen that evening, they thought about all the challenges they had completed this week, they all involved higher purpose, helping others, and being generous. The girls had huge smiles on their faces. Just then Kylee called Emmy, “Your done, great job ladies, you can now take that key, and head to the train station, locker # 321. Emmy and Ramona shrieked with excitement they could not wait to see what was inside. They arrived at the station within minutes and quickly found locker #321. With shaking hands, Emmy unlocked it, and opened the door. Inside was an envelope with a cheque for $20,000 in it. The girls jumped up and down in sheer shock and happiness. They quickly left the station, yammering on about their week, and what they would each do with their winnings, smiling from ear to ear.