This story is one I wrote recently and it's really long. If you rate it, please read the thing, don't just make something up. Thanks.
Dear Fano,
Hello, if you are reading this, then I know you are still alive. You do not know me, but I have known you for a long time. I need to tell you why I am writing. You are needed in Ecuador, where a very valuable item has been stolen. We all know you as a wonderful person, and we need your help on our quest. We need you desperately, and now. Please.
Sincerely,
Michael Rocco
I reread the e-mail in my head, and closed the e-mail page. “Ecuador? That’s hundreds of miles away! And why me?†I thought. “It’s ridiculous!â€Â
I went to the Google website and checked Ecuador. Sure enough, there, right at the top of the page was an article on an artifact in Ecuador.
I opened it and read the page. I read it again. And again. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It really had been stolen.
I read the message again just to make sure:
“The staff of Mesuir Orono was stolen about a day ago at the palace of Dancing Winds. It had belonged to King Orono the 3rd, who was killed in the incident. Security is still tracking the thief, and cannot find any trace of him. He seems to have been a young man, about 19. He could have been younger or older, we do not know. Fortunately, cameras managed to get a good look at his face. He seems to be American, with black hair and brown eyes.â€Â
To get more information, go to www.Ecuadorinfo.com/Oronostaff
I closed the Internet and went to sleep. I had a stressful night, where I kept dreaming about a giant staff whacking me into Ecuador.
I woke up to find another e-mail:
Dear Fano,
We really need you now. We know of your skills and we need your help. We will meet you outside your house at 4:30. Be ready and do not expect that we won’t come.
Sincerely,
Michael Rocco
“How can this be happening?†I thought. “Today? 4:30?†I checked my clock. It was 7:15. I did some calculation and found that I had 9 hours and 15 minutes left. I had to be prepared.
When the time came, I was ready for it. At exactly 4:30 the doorbell rang. I could feel the sweat beading on my neck. I walked to the door and cautiously opened it.
“Hello?†I called. “Hi†the man replied. As I walked out into the sunlight, I caught a full glimpse of the man’s face. He was about 30 years old, with dark brown hair and gray eyes. He was pretty tall, and looked friendly.
“I’m Michaelâ€Â, he said warmly. He had a smooth voice, and seemed like a good person. “Are you ready?†he asked. “For what?†I answered nervously.
“We need you Fano. Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone, okay?†He led me outside to a large car with about 5 people in it.
Michael introduced me to a man named Jerry, who was very skilled at fighting, a couple who seemed to be extremely intelligent, a man named Mitchell who was good at spying on people, and a woman named Anna who was good at climbing. As Michael introduced me to everyone, he said, “Everyone here is good at something, Fano. We chose you because you are exceptionally bright for your age, and you are very agile. You’ll be fine.†“What are you good at?†I asked him. “Oh, I’m good at swimming and running, and I started this little groupâ€Â, he replied.
“Can ve go zen?†asked Anna. She had a heavy accent, probably from a European country. “Where are we going?†I asked. “To ze airport†Anna answered.
“Let me get some stuff first, okay?†I yelled as I sped back to my house. I grabbed some random things: my phone, a portable radio, some clothes, a few books, and so on.
When we got to the airport, everyone booked a flight on EcuadorAir, at 5:45. The wait was a long one, or so it seemed.
When the time finally arrived, we were the first ones on. We moved to the middle of the plane, and spread out next to each other.
I was with Mitchell, Michael was with Anna, and the other two people were paired up together.
“Hey, kidâ€Â, Mitchell said. “Oh, hi†I replied. “You okay?†he asked. “You look a little pale.†“I’m fineâ€Â, I said. “You know those two over there?†he said, motioning at the couple. “That’s Susan, and that’s Matthew.â€Â
“Oh, thanks. Now I know what their names are.†I said. “No problem, kid. You ask questions, I’ll answer them.†“Okay then, what does this staff look like?†I asked. “It’s got a gold handle, then over that there are two silver blades with a black bar over them, and on top of the bar there’s a blue sharp thing.†He replied. “……………Okay, well thanks†I said.
I pulled out my radio and went to 101.3 and listened to some rock for a while. A loudspeaker came on: “ I hope you enjoy your flight on EcuadorAir. We will be arriving in nine hours and five minutes.â€Â
As I watched the country of the United States grow smaller and smaller, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I was starting to feel a bit like I shouldn’t have come on this quest.
I watched Glory Road on the airplane’s T.V. It was about this basketball coach who found some black players and had them play on his basketball team.
I rooted through my things and pulled out a book called The Kite Runner. I had recently started it and it was very good. I started reading and got lost in the book. I started to feel tired. Really tired.
“Thank you for flying on EcuadorAir. We hope you enjoyed your flight.†I woke with a start. “What happened!†I exclaimed. “You fell asleep, kid†I heard Mitchell say. “Oh, thanks.†I said.
As we filed out of the plane, I noticed that a lot of shops were in English. We went to the Federal Exchange Bureau and got some money exchanged. I got $1,596.39 in Ecuador cash, or “Sucreâ€Â.
“Can ve go to ze palaze, zen?†Anna asked. “ I vant to get zat ztaff!†We made a reservation in a hotel, then rented a car and drove toward the palace. The palace was huge, with pillars and turrets as far as the eye could see.
We entered the palace and were asked our identity by a guard. “We are detectives, and we’re here about the†“Staff, I know†the guard said. “Enterâ€Â
We filed past the guard and entered the throne room. It was gigantic. There was a picture of the staff. It looked just like Mitchell had described it. Except that there was a blue blade instead of a blue “thingâ€Â.
I went up to the throne and looked where the staff should have been. Inside was a small golden object. I fished it out and saw that it was a key.
I read the front:
Ecuadorie Hotel
Room 7b
“That’s funny.†I thought. “That’s where we’re staying. And, hey! That’s our …………… room!†“Did one of you guys lose this?†I called. “Lose what?†Matthew said back. “This key! It belongs to our hotel room!â€Â
“No†they all called back.
I flipped the key around and read the back. There, in pen was a faded name:
BRIAN ROBERTSON
“Omigosh, Omigosh, Omigosh†I muttered. I couldn’t believe it. “Uuh, guys? Can you come over here? I asked. They all walked over and I showed them what I had found.
“Look, I found this key near the staff holder and it says Brian Robertson on it and I think that he’s the thief and he was in our hotel room and we could find clues in our room and what should we do?!†I said in one long breath. “Whoa, slow down kid†Mitchell said. “But what should we do? I asked again. “I don’t know right now, kid. I don’t know.â€Â
In the end, we wound up going back to the hotel and checking our room for evidence that the thief had been there. In one of the hotel drawers I found a little book.
On the front of the book were a few words scribbled in ink:
MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
I opened it and read the first page.
Stolen Items:
Gold Lion America
Silver Trident America
Babe Ruth Baseball America
Going to steal Orono’s Staff Ecuador
“Sooooo†I thought. “This guy is one major thief! I read about the trident being stolen!†I read some more:
I will sneak into the castle at night while everyone is asleep. I will throw my mega-bomb into the dining hall. While everyone is running about in there, I will kill Orono and take the staff!
I showed it to the others and they were amazed. “Zo, e iz a major zief, eh? We vill catch him!†Anna exclaimed. “How?†I asked.
“Ve vill trick him! He iz a zief, eh? Zo he can’t resist gold! “Ve vill trick him into getting gold vhile ve capture ‘im!â€Â
“Uuuh Anna? Couldn’t we just attack him or something?†Michael asked. “Yes, I guez ve could.†Anna replied.
“How do we know where he is?†Matthew asked. “I know!†I exclaimed. We’ll ask the people in this hotel if they know where he went! We could pretend that we’re his family or something!â€Â
“That’s a good ideaâ€Â, Jerry said. “I think we should split up, you know. One person should be on each floor. Anna, you do the 1st floor, I’ll do second, Matthew does 3rd, Susan does 4th, Michael does 5th, and Mitchell and Fano will do the top floor!â€Â
“Right!†we all said and went to the floor we had been assigned to. “Well, kid, looks like we’re together again.†Mitchell said. “Yeah. It looks like that†I replied. “I don’t think that anyone will know about him on the top floor, you know. Because we were on the second floor,†I told Mitchell as we arrived on the top floor. “Yeah, kid, I know†he replied.
Mitchell went to one side of the hall, so I went to the other. I saw a lady coming out of a room. “Excuse me, do you know the person on the second floor in room 7b?†I asked.
“No, I don’t†she replied. I went down the hall and asked a man the same question. He didn’t know either. I asked another man. Nope. Another man. Again no. Another lady. Still no. I looked over at Mitchell. He was asking a kid.
“Asking kids?†I thought. “That’s weird. Maybe I should try it. I walked up to a boy and asked him about Brian. No. I did the whole hall without an answer.
I decided to check the bathroom. I went in the men’s bathroom. I saw a man and asked him. Same answer. Just as I was about to leave, a stall door opened and a boy stepped out. He was about 11 and had blonde hair. “Excuse me,†I asked him. “Do you know about the young man that was in room 7b?â€Â
“Who, Brian? Sure, I know him! He’s my cousin†I couldn’t believe my luck. “Oh, well, he left the hotel. Do you know where he went?†“Yeah, he went to that other hotel down the road†“Thanks a lot, Bye!†I called as I rushed out of the room to tell the others.
“Mitchell!†I yelled as I rushed out of the bathroom. “What?†“Come with me!†I called as I ran downstairs. I gathered everyone together on the first floor.
“Okay, what is it, Fano?†Michael asked. “I met this boy upstairs. You won’t believe this. He is Brian’s cousin!!!â€Â
They stared at me in amazement. “So does this boy know where Brian is right now?†Michael asked. “Yeah. He’s staying at one of the hotels down the street.
“Which one?†“I don’t know,†I answered. “We’ve got to check each one!†Matthew yelled. “Let’s go!â€Â
We entered one hotel and asked the woman at the front desk if she knew about any person in the hotel named Brian. “We have one man named Brian. Brian Vidoer†“Oh, that’s not the Brian we’re looking for. Good bye!†we all called as we left for the next hotel.
We reached another hotel and asked the same question. We got the same answer except this time there was no Brian in the building.
We checked all the hotels on one side of the street and then went to the other. We checked all except for three. We did the first one. No Brian. The second. No Brian. The last on we checked did have a Brian. And it was Brian Robertson!
We went upstairs and walked over to Brian’s room. I knocked and called “Excuse me, is anyone in there?†“Fano, you’d better go outside in case we get in trouble. You could get help.†Matthew said. “Okay†I mumbled unhappily. I walked outside and stood near the grass.
Michael put his hand on the door and entered. “Hello?†he said. “Who are you?†a young man said. “I’m Michael Rocco.†“We are here because we know you have stolen the staff.â€Â
“What staff?†he asked. “Orono’s staff†Matthew said. “What do you mean?†he asked again. “You’re Brian Robertson, right?†“Yes†he said. “Okay, then. We know that you are the thief and that you killed King Orono. “How can you prove that!†he yelled. “I didn’t do anything!†“Oh, we can prove it Brian. In many ways we can prove it.â€Â
Mitchell pulled out a key from his pocket. “Look familiar, kid?†he asked Brian. “My key!†he exclaimed, “Where did you get that?â€Â
“Oh, we found it†Mitchell said. “In the throne room of King Orono!†“That still doesn’t prove anything!†Brian yelled.
“Then what’s this?†Susan said. “My Accomplishments. Gold lion, silver trident, baseball, Orono’s Staff.†“Fine, I did it! But you’ll never get me!â€Â
And with that, he jumped out the window. “Fano!†Michael yelled. “Get that guy!†I jumped up and looked. Sure enough, there right at my feet was a man.
I had heard the commotion in the room, so I pinned to the ground. “Where did you put that staff?†“I’m… not… telling… you… anything… about… that… staff!†he choked out.
Just then everyone came tumbling out of the hotel. “Fano, let me handle this†Michael said and came over to where Brian and I were.
“Where is the staff, Brian?†Michael asked. “I’m not…………………… oh, fine. It’s in my room. In the dresser. Top drawer.†“I’ll get it!†I yelled and ran up to the room.
I opened the top drawer and pulled out the staff. It was amazing. The gold sparkled and glittered in the afternoon sunlight.
I brought it outside and showed it to the others. “We’ll take it back to the castle today†I said. “Okay†we all agreed. We called the police and they took Brian away to prison.
That night we had a huge celebration at the castle. Most of the people that came were people from Ecuador, but the person that was honored the most was Brian’s younger cousin. Because, without him, we would have never solved the mystery of the staff.
THE END
Very long, I know