Twilight Treasures

The Girl Scout Law

“I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout”

There was something unusual about the old troop cabin in the woods. Lily had only been to the old cabin once last year, but as the large van of troop 43890 pulled up, she could still remember the way the door groaned as it opened, beckoning them inside.

She hiked up her backpack and began walking towards the cabin. Lily’s friends, Vivian and Julia, quickly joined her in bringing their belongings inside. They each selected their bunks as Miss Cora – the leader made the campfire. That evening, they hiked the trails, sang songs and finally, roasted marshmallows.

“Alright, who wants a spooky ghost story before bed?” Miss Cora asked. All three girls raised their hands, and she smiled, waving the girls to lean closer. Dropping her voice to a hoarse whisper, Miss Cora began the story.

“A long, long time ago, there was an old troop that stayed at this very cabin. The rules were very clear – No one leaves the cabin at night. But one little girl awoke to a tap, tap, tap on the door.” Miss Cora motioned to lightly knock on a pretend door in front of her.

Lily leaned in closer to Miss Cora, intrigued.

“At first, she thought it was a dream and went back to bed. Then she heard it again. Tap, tap, tap. The little girl tried to ignore it – told herself it must be an old branch in the wind. But the tapping wouldn’t stop. Tap… tap… tap…” Miss Cora emphasized each eerie tap.

“Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. Curious, she tried to answer the door. CREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAKKKK” Miss Cora mimicked opening the cabin door. The girls all sat on the edges of their seats.

Suddenly Miss Cora clapped her hands as loud as she could, startling several of the girls as they screamed – including Lily. “BAM! The little girl was yanked outside!” Miss Cora shouted before lowering back to her whisper. “Never to be seen again.”

“What happened to her Miss, Cora?” Vivian asked. Miss Cora shrugged her shoulders.

“No one really knows…but, the next morning, all they could find was a box of girl scout cookies. With a note saying ‘Thanks for the snack.’”

Lily shivered and rubbed her shoulders. The other girls around her seemed to do the same.

“Legend says, if you ever hear the Cabin Knocker tap, tap, tapping on the door – mind the rules and don’t answer. Or you might become his next snack.”

The girls all looked at each other with wide eyes. Miss Cora looked at her watch.

“Well, it looks like it’s getting late girls, let’s wash up and head to bed!” Miss Cora grabbed the water bucket and doused the fire as the girls stumbled into the cabin.

That night, Lily felt uneasy about the story Miss Cora had told. Outside, it seemed like the trees watched her as she tried to nestle in her bed. Hours passed as she still couldn’t sleep. That’s when she heard it.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was faint, but Lily was sure she had heard tapping on the door. Her heart picked up speed slightly as she tried to throw her blanket over her face and squeezed her eyes shut.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lily heard it again, louder this time.

“Mi…Miss C…Cora?” Lily stuttered. She could hear Miss Cora move slightly in her bed, but she didn’t answer.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lily heard it again, even louder this time.

“Don’t answer, Lily,” she heard Julia whisper through the darkness.

“I won’t,” Lily whispered back. She lay in bed and waited to hear more knocking, but it never came. Finally, she fell asleep.

By morning, Lily was drained. Between the story Miss Cora told, the tapping at the door, and an early wake-up at sunrise, she could hardly keep her eyes open. The girls all ate breakfast and got dressed for a morning hike.

When everyone was ready to go, Miss Cora opened the door and there, sitting on the cabin seats, was a small box with a note.

“Don’t open that, Miss Cora!” Julia shouted. Miss Cora turned to look at the girls – confusion swept across her face.

“Is everything alright?” she asked. Julia and Lily exchanged knowing glances.

“We heard tapping on the door last night,” Lily explained.

“But we didn’t answer!” Julia added and Lily nodded. Miss Cora smiled.

“Ohhh, sounds spooky! But that was probably the sounds of the night.” She came closer to all the girls before sitting on the edge of a bed. “I heard this story when I was a little girl, but I think it may have scared you two a bit much,” she reassured them, then, she pointed to the box, “but I’m expecting this package. I just received a message this morning that Council has a new cookie to try and has asked us to sell them as a trial. Let’s bring the box inside, and we’ll take a look after our hike.”

Vivian grabbed the box and placed it on Miss Cora’s bed. After their hike, everyone gathered as Miss Cora read the note out loud.

“Enclosed is the latest Girl Scout cookie selection. Please distribute promptly. Remember: success favors the diligent. – Council” Miss Cora smiled and grabbed a package from inside, opened it and placed a cookie in each girl’s hand.

At first glance, Lily noticed the cookie was covered half in chocolate and half in white chocolate. She split it along the line and inside was a graham with a gooey chocolate center. She shoved one of the halves in her mouth and the chocolate burst as she crunched on the graham.

“MmMmm,” she moaned with delight. “These are so good!”

The other girls nodded in unison as they each ate their cookies.

“Wonderful! Then we should have no problems trying to sell these cookies, right girls?” Miss Cora eagerly rallied the girls by offering to take them all on a new camping trip as soon as the girls sold all their boxes.

“Their uniforms look weird,” Vivian mentioned. She was referring to the packaging on the cookie box.

Lily walked over to look and noticed it was less colorful than their usual cookie packages. It was black, with a grey accent. The name Twilight Treasures was printed across the top and an image of two girl scouts was displayed. Looking over their uniforms, Lily noticed the girls had beret hats and wore a scarf instead of the traditional vests they wore to meetings.

“Ohh, they look like they pulled out some older uniforms to advertise this cookie. That’s really cool!” Miss Cora pointed out.

After several hours of camp activities, it was time for the girls to pack up and head home. Miss Cora handed each girl three boxes of the new Twilight Treasures on their way out.

“I hope to hear wonderful news from each of you at our next meeting!” she announced.

Lily rushed home and immediately asked her parents, but they simply told her it a large waste of money – money they didn’t have. Other family members, friends, even teachers alike wouldn’t buy a single box from her and no amount of pleading to “just try them and see” would get them to budge. Lily’s hope depleted more with every “No.”

By the next troop meeting, Vivian was boasting that she had sold her boxes by the end of the first night and was asking Miss Cora for more.

“My mom loves them so much! She wants to buy another box!” she beamed.

“I don’t have anymore,” Miss Cora explained. “This was just a trial before our actual cookie sales. If your families want more, they can order the cookies then.”

Vivian protested but Miss Cora shook her head -silencing her. Lily sat quietly considering her past week. Her boxes were in her backpack, still unsold.

“She could have mine, Miss Cora,” Lily announced, finally. Vivian stopped what she was saying and looked at Lily. Miss Cora walked over and saw her boxes sitting in her bag.

“You haven’t sold any cookies, Lily?” Miss Cora asked and Lily hung her head. A tear formed in her eye.

“I’m sorry Miss Cora. I asked everyone I could think of, but no one was interested.” Lily wiped her eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the cookies sold.”

More tears came and Miss Cora rubbed Lily’s shoulder.

“It’s ok, Lily. If you can’t sell them, I’ll understand. But I do want you to at least try – give it your best shot. ‘Success favors the diligent,’” Miss Cora quoted.

Lily nodded and glanced over to Vivian, who was eyeing her unsold boxes eagerly.

“Hey Lily – my parents will buy all of your cookies,” she whispered in Lily’s ear as they left the meeting later. “Just give me the bag, and I’ll take care of the rest. Noone has to know. Sound good?”

Lily considered Vivian’s request for a moment. Miss Cora wanted her to keep trying, but Lily had no idea who else to ask. She was worried the other girls would be sitting and waiting for her forever to sell her three boxes, but Vivian was here, Vivian could sell them quickly and allow them another camping trip. It was a win-win.

Resigned, Lily handed her the bag and Vivian immediately perked up.

“Thanks Lily!” she shouted as she skipped over to her parents’ car.

Before the next meeting, Vivian had sold all the boxes again and secretly slipped Lily the earnings from the boxes she sold.

“This is so Miss Cora thinks we’ve sold all our boxes and we can go on the trip,” Vivian explained. Lily nodded. She technically hadn’t sold the boxes herself, but the boxes were still sold – which is what mattered, right?

Miss Cora’s eyes opened in surprise to see Lily’s boxes were all sold.

“You sold them all, Lily?” she asked her. Lily glanced over to Vivian before nodding. “Congratulations, Lily! I’m so proud of you!” she clapped her hands together. “I guess that makes all of you, since Julia finished selling her third box as well! You know what that means?”

“A new camping trip!” the girls all shouted in unison. Miss Cora smiled brightly and joined the girls in cheering.

As promised, Miss Cora planned the new camping trip for the end of the month. That evening, the air became crisp with an autumn chill and the girls opted to stay inside rather than roast marshmallows by the fire.

Miss Cora gathered them around the table and offered popcorn while they settled in for the night.

“I’m so proud of all you girls for selling your boxes,” Miss Cora began. “To help encourage new innovative ideas, I would like to go around and hear everyone’s success stories!”

Lily froze. She had no success story. She had given all her boxes to Vivian. She could feel her face heat with worry. Luckily, Julia spoke first, giving Lily more time to consider what she was going to tell her leader.

“I was asked my Grandma to purchase a box, she wasn’t sure at first, but when I told her how delicious they were, she just had to try one. Once my grandmother tried the box, she told two of her friends and they decided to each buy a box as well.”

“Wonderful, Julia! That was a great sales technique – by explaining how delicious the cookies are, you managed to convince your grandma to purchase. Then, word of mouth provided you with the other sales you needed. Good Job!” Miss Cora praised.

Lily frowned. She had tried to convince her family how delicious they were, but not a single one had listened.

“I did something similar, Miss Cora,” Vivian explained next. “Except, my parents weren’t easy to convince at first. I had to use my own allowance to buy a box and have them try one of mine. Once they did, they told all their friends at work. I was able to sell my remaining boxes and now their friends are all excited to buy more when cookie season officially hits.”

Vivian held her head proudly, but Lily’s heart sank. She couldn’t have used that technique since her parents couldn’t afford to give her and her siblings allowance.

“That’s another wonderful technique, Vivian. Using your own money to offer a sample of something can prove to create more sales since people will want more of what they just had. Great Job!” Miss Cora applauded then turned to Lily.

Lily could feel her heart thump hard against her chest. Her hands were wet with sweat and her eyes darted from Miss Cora, to Julia and Vivian, back to Miss Cora.

“Ummm. I…uh…I asked my family – but they couldn’t,” she began, noticing Miss Cora’s soft smile encouraging her to continue. “So…I went to the… neighbors’ houses! I started knocking on each door.” Lily felt a surge of pride – the lie may not have come out as smoothly as she would have liked, but it sounded like a perfect success story. “I was able to sell them to other people in my neighborhood.”

Miss Cora’s smile widened.

“Going door to door can be another good technique. Just make sure you know whose door you’re knocking on.” Miss Cora guided. Lily nodded and Miss Cora added softly, “Good job, Lily.”

The night grew late, and the girls finished their popcorn before all heading to bed. As Lily lay in bed that night, her stomach twisted slightly. The lie she told Miss Cora had been convincing, but she still felt unsure – like the lie would consume her. She tossed and turned for several hours until finally, she heard a noise.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Her eyes darted toward the door just as a slip of paper slid underneath. Miss Cora’s ghost story from their last trip reignited in Lily’s head. Looking around the room, she realized everyone else was asleep. Miss Cora had advised not to answer the door at night, but her story had never mentioned she couldn’t get out of bed at all – and she was curious what the paper contained.

Slowly, she moved to the edge of her bed and tiptoed to the door – making sure not to make any noise as she crept past everyone. Gathering the paper, she quickly hurried back to her bed and opened it.

Inside, one word was written: “Liar.” Lily crumpled the paper immediately, heart racing.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lily turned away from the door, trying desperately to ignore it.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The door handle rattled slightly and Lily bolted upward – staring at the door. It’s locked, she told herself. Another paper slid under the door.

Trembling, she got up and slowly walked toward the paper. She didn’t even bother to take it back to her bed this time.

“Did you sell your cookies?” the paper asked. Lily’s eyes watered as she crumpled it.

Another slipped underneath. This one she didn’t even have to unfold. “Did YOU sell your cookies?”

Lily backed away. The handle rattled, the wind howled and finally, the door burst open - waking the rest of the cabin.

Miss Cora rushed to shut the door and turned to the other girls still in bed. Noticing Lily’s was empty, she glanced around the room.

“Where’s Lily?” she asked finally. Vivian and Julia looked at each other then back at Miss Cora. She walked to Lily’s bed and pulled back the blanket, a small package of Twilight Treasures lay there with a small folded piece of paper attached.

Miss Cora ran back to the door and rushed out into the night, calling for Lily, but there was no response. They checked under the bunks, in the bathrooms, and anywhere else a young girl could hide, but they couldn’t find her.

By the next morning, Miss Cora contacted the local police. They brought search dogs and more people came to help look for her. They never found her.

I decided to leave my position as troop leader after that. Losing a young girl was more than I could bear. When I went back to retrieve the box, it had mysteriously disappeared. I reached out to Council regarding the Twilight Treasures, but they insisted they had never heard of the cookies. Yet, the words scrawled on the note still haunt me to this day: “Thanks for the snack.”