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Prompt: A Family Mystery Uncovered
Words: Sunday, secret, wallpaper, swap, sister, curiosity, island, notebook, marathon, demand
It was a typical hot, sweltering, humid August day. Desiree was up at her grandparent’s old farmhouse. Her family had come out here for Sunday dinner, but now they were all just trying to seek refuge from the summer heat.
The women were in the family room, most of them dozing off into peaceful Sunday afternoon naps, while the men were all in the living room watching an A-Team marathon. Desiree’s grandpa had always been a fan of that show.
Desiree and her sister Gemma saw their chance to sneak off and do their favorite activity at the farmhouse: go exploring.
Today, they decided to check out a room no one really entered with any frequency–the basement sitting room. Their grandparents had the basement partially finished years ago, but never really used it.
As the girls looked around at the antique decor, Desiree noticed an unusual spot on the wallpaper. The seam was pulling apart slightly, and it looked like there was a darker shadow on the wall. She called Gemma over, and the girls picked at the wallpaper to see what would happen. It gave way slightly, and soon the girls discovered they had opened up a small hole in the wall.
In this hidden wall cubby were a notebook and some other mysterious trinkets. They, of course, opened the notebook — their curiosity wouldn’t let them resist! As they began reading, they discovered that their grandparents had been world explorers in the days before commercial air travel.
On one of their more exciting adventures, the couple had been on an island. The islanders were very curious about these foreigners. Even though they didn’t speak the same language, they were able to communicate. The islanders were masters of the fabric arts: bags, blankets, rugs, clothes–everything was beautiful. The adventurers were able to swap their watches and some jewelry for some of the fabric items.
The girls then looked in the cubby again and found some beautiful bags and scarves, no doubt from this mysterious island.
Now the girls knew why their grandparents had always been so secretive about their younger years.
Suddenly, they heard a noise behind them. It was grandpa. He laughed that the girls had finally learned the family secret. Their demand for more stories made him smile. He hesitated slightly, rubbing his thumb over the pages of the notebook. He then obliged the girls until it was time to depart for the day but promised more stories upon their return.
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