The Three Keys

By Andy Deng

It was the chilliest day of the year, and the Hallow family was shivering with cold.

“Brrr. It’s very cold here,” Tom’s mum shivered.

“We should move to another place,” said Tom’s Dad, in a shivering voice.

“I don’t want to leave!” shouted Tom.

“Sorry Tom, this place is too chilly and will possibly turn into ice,” said Tom’s mum, still shivering.

“Fine,” grumbled Tom.

Then they packed their stuff and went to their second house. While driving to their second house, Tom saw a minor path with a sign saying, “Welcome to Clarendon”.

”Let’s drive that way,” Tom shouted in a hurry.

“No, It looked strange!” Mum replied anxiously.  In just a few minutes they arrived at their destination.

”The house didn’t change,” Tom’s mum said when they stepped in.

“Yes,” said Tom’s dad.

Tom didn’t say anything because he was still thinking about the sign “Welcome to Clarendon”. He felt a little weird and it seemed something was attracting him. He wondered what on earth was going on in that place.

After lunch, he walked to Clarendon without telling anybody. There was no house on either side of the path. No people, only trees, tall and big trees. He was a little scared. When he was sneaking into the forest, suddenly, he slithered down a long slope.

“AHHHH!” Tom shouted until stopped at the end of the slope, painfully. ”Wow!” cried Tom, surprised. He saw an exquisite chest in front and opened it without any hesitation. Suddenly a voice came out of the chest, ”To get out of here, you need three keys, I will give you three hours, or you will stay here forever. Here’s the riddle for the first key: It shines very bright, but it disappears at night.”

Tom couldn’t believe what he saw. He thought Mum was right and he regretted coming here, but now what he could do was trying best to figure out the riddle.

“It shines very bright, but it disappears at night. Hey, it is the sun!” exclaimed Tom, “But, how can I get up there?” Then, he saw a bird. “Maybe that bird will help me,” Tom thought. He pleaded with the bird for the sun. Believe it or not, the bird actually understood him and soared to the sun.

“What a fascinating bird!” Tom thought. The bird was very tired of his journey but still got a piece of the sun for Tom. “Thank you, bird!” said Tom kindly. Then the part of the sun became a chest.

Tom opened the chest and the loud voice came again, “Great job for solving the riddle, the first key will appear after the second riddle, now, the riddle for the second key: Hydrogen (H2)  is my father, Oxygen (O2) is my mother, what am I?” Then, appeared a small key.

“Hmm… hydrogen is my father, and oxygen is my mother, what am I? If I combine hydrogen and oxygen, that equals water (H2O)!” said Tom excitedly. Then suddenly a river appeared in front. Tom scooped some water with his hands. It immediately turned into a chest and again, he opened it.

”Congratulations, you’ve solved the second riddle, you will receive your key after the last riddle. Ok, the riddle for the third key: Without the sun and without the water, I can’t grow.” Then, the second key appeared.

“Ok. So, without the sun and water, it can’t grow. I think it should be a plant!” said knowledgeable Tom. He then grabbed a plant by pulling it very hard, but instead of transforming into a chest, it transformed into a door, which had three key locks and one of them with a key inside.

“Uh-oh, it’s nearly three hours!” said Tom worriedly. “I must put the other two keys into the key locks.” At that moment, he placed the other two keys into the other two keyholes. The door opened successfully and Tom was free again.

Tom was so happy to see his parents again when he got home. “I learnt a lesson,” he said, “It is important to consider your parents’ suggestions!”

- Total nr. of readings: 1,033 Copyright © The author [2020] All Rights Reserved. This story may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author except for personal use.