Alexander's Adventure

Alexander's first thought when he woke up was, "It's Saturday. Momma and Daddy won't go to work today." He knew because he heard them talking about it last night after supper.

           His second thought was, "there is something different on my dresser." He got up to take a closer look. Sure enough, there was a strange-looking bottle sitting between his comb and his favorite toy car. He picked it to take a better look. The bottle was covered in dirt. It felt cool as if it had been outside all night. 

           He took his bottle with him when he walked into the kitchen. His father was pouring a fresh cup of coffee. "Daddy, I found a bottle in my room!" 

           His father took a sip of coffee and looked at the object in Alexander's hand. "Let's go to the table so I can have a closer look," his father whispered. "We need to be quiet because Momma is still sleeping."

           "This bottle was on my dresser this morning," Alexander whispered. His whisper was just as loud as his regular voice. He put the bottle on the table and sat in his chair by the table.

           "It's a very interesting looking bottle." Daddy looked at the object then asked Alexander, "when did it appear in your room?"

           "I didn't see it last night when I went to bed," Alexander answered.

"Coffee, I smell coffee," Momma interrupted. She was wearing her bathrobe and her pink fuzzy slippers. 

           Daddy got up to pour her some coffee.

           "Good morning Momma. Daddy and I are looking at this bottle."  Alexander pointed to the object sitting on the table. "I found it in my room this morning. I didn't see it last night when I went to bed." Alexander told Mama.

           Momma sat in her chair before taking a long drink from her coffee cup. She sat her cup on the table and looked at Alexander's bottle. "It's very dirty. Have you already taken it outside?"

           "No, I still have my pajamas on." Alexander pointed to his clothes and lifted his bare feet so Momma could see them.

           "I'll get you some cereal. After breakfast, we can examine the bottle." Momma took another long drink from her cup.

           Alexander ate his Cheerios quickly and drank all of his milk. Momma and Daddy were still drinking their coffee very slowly. Why were they taking so long? Didn't they want to look at the bottle?

           Finally, Momma said, "I think we need to clean the bottle. I'll go get some glass cleaner."

           She got up and took Alexander's empty bowl and glass to the kitchen sink. She returned carrying a paper towel and glass cleaner. Do you remember how to clean glass?" Momma asked Alexander.

           He nodded and took the paper towel and cleaner. He sprayed the bottle and used the paper towel to smear some of the dirt around.

           "Here are more paper towels. I think you need more than one," Daddy handed Alexander the whole roll of paper towels.

           Alexander tore off one and wiped the bottle some more. It took five towels to make the glass clean enough to see inside.

           "Is that a ship inside the bottle?" Daddy asked.

           "Yes! It looks like a pirate ship!" Alexander started bouncing on his chair.

            "Is that a piece of paper? Momma pointed to the neck of the bottle.

           Alexander put his finger inside, but he pushed the paper deeper into the neck. 

           "Careful," Daddy warned. "We don't want to break the bottle just to get the paper out."

           Alexander frowned, "I don't want to break the bottle."

           "Let me get some tweezers," Momma suggested. She went to the medicine cabinet to find tweezers.

"Here, try getting the paper out with these." Momma gave Alexander the tweezers.

           "Do you need help?" Daddy asked.

           "No, I can do it." Alexander was already pulling the paper out with the tweezers. "It's out!" He flattened the paper onto the table.

           "What is it?" Momma asked.

           "I can't read!" Alexander shouted.

           Daddy looked at the paper and said, "It looks like a map."

           "Is it a treasure map?" Alexander was hopeful.

           "I don't know if it's a treasure map," Daddy smiled. "It is a map of our backyard. Look at this broken line, that's our fence." He was pointing to a broken line at the edge of the paper.

           "Is there a treasure hidden in our yard?" Alexander asked.

           "Let's follow the directions on the map and find out," Momma said. "But first, we need to change out of our pajamas."

Alex changed his clothes so fast that it might have been a world record. He was pacing in the kitchen when Momma and Daddy finally came in.

           "I'm ready and I have the map." He held up the paper to show his parents.

 "First we should get our shovel." Daddy went into the garden shed and returned with the shovel.

           "

           "The first landmark is the back door." Alexander held the map so Daddy could read the directions. They all stood on the step by the back door.

           "It says to walk seven paces towards the maple tree." Momma read from the map.

           Alexander counted seven large paces. He reached the maple tree.

           "Now take five paces towards the Northwest corner." Daddy read the directions.

           "Which way is northwest?" Alexander didn't know which way was west or north.

           Daddy pointed, "that way."

           Alexander counted five paces.

           "The map says to take one step south." Momma read the map. "South is that way," she pointed to show Alexander.

           Alexander took one large pace. They were at the edge of their garden. Nothing was planted this close to the edge and the dirt was soft.

           "I think this is the spot!" Daddy looked at Alexander. "I think you should dig." Daddy handed Alexander the shovel.

           Alexander scooped some dirt into the shovel and threw it.

           "Be careful!" Momma scolded. She was brushing dirt off of her shirt. "Try to avoid throwing dirt on your Momma."

           "Sorry!" Alexander hadn't meant to get Momma dirty. He was careful with the next shovel full of dirt. He laid it carefully to the side.

Alexander spent the next fifteen minutes digging in the same spot. He was almost ready to give up when the shove made a loud clanging noise. He struck something metal. "I found something!"

           "Dig around it so we can lift it out of the ground," Daddy advised.

           Alexander happily kept digging until they could see that a treasure chest was buried in their garden.

           "It might be heavy. Let me get it out of the ground." Daddy lifted the treasure out of the hole.

           "Is it locked?" Momma asked.

           "No. I can open it!" Alexander lifted the lid.

Inside were small bags. Alexander handed one to Momma. "It's filled with coins! Let's take the bags inside and count the money," she said.

           Alexander handed some bags to Daddy and Momma. He carried as many bags as he could to the house.

           Momma and Daddy helped him count the money.

           "I have money for my piggy bank and a bottle with a pirate ship inside." Alexander smiled. " My Momma and Daddy helped me find a buried treasure. This is a wonderful Saturday."