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The most precious treasure


by fy2027

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     Once upon a time there was a town next to a mountain, a big mountain, which remained in an eternal winter. This town was known as "The Mountain of Terror" because of the great mountain that was very close. Over the years, this majestic place was blessed with abundant food, despite the temperature.

     Each person who visited the town was marveled because of all the landscapes that town had. The most talkative people spent hours describing the amazing place, how were the inhabitants of that place, and how they felt magical energy when they were there. One day, a young Usul, amazed by everything he heard about that village, decided to undertake a journey which changed his life.

     One morning, nothing special, in which the young Usul decided to use an old backpack that was a gift from her beloved grandfather, take a few extra coins he found under his bed, and the journey to the people of all they spoke. He went to a store near his home and bought a nice map and a compass. Then he decided to stand in the sun to decide where he should start walking. He took his time, he was not in a hurry. When he knew where to go, he kept the map and undertook the journey.

     The young Usul was so excited about the trip that he felt everything about nature. He began to leave the city where he lived, and felt how his shoes touched the floor. He felt the wet and soft ground; he loved the smell of damp earth and wondered why he lived in the city when he preferred to live in the countryside.

     "Wait! You have not told me the name of the young Usul. Are you going to keep calling him like that? "Martha said, interrupting his uncle.

     "It's okay. If you want me to put him a name, I'll put him a name. Let's see ... I'll call him Astrad "he said, convinced that he had chosen a great name.

     Astrad walked through inertia, he did not feel his legs. He enjoyed every second of that trip because he felt that he expected something amazing from the village, he was convinced of that. The more he moved away from the city, the less he remembered the main reason for his interest in visiting the village, because he only thought about the wonderful adventure he was having. It had been a few hours since he started walking when he decided to stop and appreciate the view. He looked at the sky, bright, warm, perfect. He could feel the sun transmitting all the energy he needed to continue.

     He decided to sit for a while on the banks of a river to observe the fish, the kelp, the colored stones. Everything in the river was brilliant, seemed to be made just to be observed. He felt it was time to take his small notebook he carried with him, and draw what he saw. Astrad was a great artist, he loved to draw since he can remember and everyone in the town knew he was a genius with the pen. He drew for about half an hour, put away his pencil and notebook, and continued his journey.

     He walked for several hours, until the sky began to get several dark colors. Colors that he never stopped to contemplate. He decided to take his small tent, turn on his lamp, and sit down to plan what things he need to do the next day. He looked at the map carefully, drew the roads he would walk, put away the map and fell asleep.

     The next morning, he woke up feeling cold. He felt an icy air that pierced the tent and forced him to get going. According to the map, a day was needed to reach the destination and Astrad could not be happier. The road began to make more rocky and slippery, but the scenery was breathtaking. Because of the cold, Astrad decided to take a coat that was in his backpack. When he tried to pull his coat, he heard a knock on the floor, followed by the sound of the earth. Astrad looked down and he could only see his pencil rolling on the ground and then falling among the rocks. It was the end of his attempts to portray what he saw, and he would not be able to draw anymore.

     Angrily, Astrad put on his coat and continued walking. He realize that the air become heavier, like his footsteps. "That happens to those who live in a city," he thought. Tired, he decided to take a pause as he watched his compass. He walked slowly, without hurry, concentrating on his compass, until his feet hit a rock. Surprised, he observed what was happening, and realized that he had reached a cave. He did not understand the situation, as he had seen on the map, the cave that was in front appeared to be Snowager cave, which was strange because the first thing that would appear, according to his calculations, would be the village.

     Aware of the danger, he did not look at the map, but he knew something was wrong. He turned around, but stopped. "If I came here, I should inspect the cave," he thought. He lit a torch and went into the cave. To his surprise, he found nothing and no one. "This cannot be right" he thought worried and immediately left the cave.

     He looked for a safe place behind some rocks and watched the map. He mumbled something and kept walking. He had to walk down a steep path down to the village, which took an hour. But something was not right, since he left the cave, had ceased to feel the air, the smell of nature, the sound of his footsteps. Maybe it was due to the cold, so cold maybe it was the cause of not feeling anything.

     Happily he came to town earlier than expected and decided to get something to eat. The restaurants were still closed, so he decided to buy an ice cream. While he waited for restaurants to open, he sat in the middle of the square to see everything. He watched a gift shop, and recalled that his brother also liked the stories about the village, so he decided to go and buy something. On leaving the store, he heard a sound behind some trees. Next to the store there was a forest, but there were so many trees that he could not see what caused the sound.

     Astrad was defeated by his adventurous spirit, so he decided to go to the forest to see what had caused the sound. Unfortunately he found nothing, but when he was about to return to the village, he saw something shining in the snow. It was a coin, a blue coin, bright, clean, smooth as silk. It had something written, but he could not read it. It also had a picture of a cave, with objects outside it. "It looks like the cave of the Snowager" Astrad thought. And of course, it was very likely, almost obvious, because whoever created the coin must live in that town, and everyone knows about the Snowager.

     He put the coin inside his backpack and went to a restaurant for breakfast, he was very hungry. There were no available tables, so he sat at the same table with a gentleman. Astrad felt he had to speak to him, to ask things about the village and to know more about it. They began to talk and Astrad asked a few things that were said about that town. The gentleman watched him curiously, "perhaps all visitors ask him that," Astrad thought. However, the gentleman started talking about the legends that exist in that town.

     At one point, something caught the attention of Astrad. The gentleman was talking about a legend about the Snowager. As everyone knows, the Snowager is a creature who has been in the cave for many years, no one really knows for how long. Because of that, many stories have appeared around the Snowager, but no one could prove that any of these stories is true. One of those stories, talk about that is curious how the Snowager treasured objects with such dedication. Where are these objects from? How do they appear in his cave? Nobody knows exactly, but a legend tells that every object the Snowager keeps is the most precious treasure of the person who delved into the mystery of the village.

     Mr. continued talking for quite some time, until he left with his grandchildren. Astrad sat thinking about the last legend that the gentleman had told to him. "But the Snowager has stuffed plushies, gifts, all" spoke softly. Perhaps that belonged to someone before. The rest of the day, Astrad visited many houses and stores to continue learning about the legends. At dusk, he set up his tent on the outskirts of the village and slept peacefully, dreaming all night.

     The next morning, he headed back to the city. When he got home, he took everything he had carried in his backpack. Astrad recalled that he had found a coin in the forest, and looked at the coin carefully, because he loved it. When he was about to put it away, he realized something very strange.

     A new object had appeared outside the cave. Astrad was quite sure that it was not there before. "I must be tired," he said and put away the coin. He recalled that he had been unable to draw because he dropped his pen, so he decided to seek his notebook to keep it in a safe place. His surprise was great when he didn't found his notebook in his backpack. Frightened, he desperately sought his greatest treasure, but could not find it.

     Sad about what happened, he decided to take a bath and go to sleep. He was about to sleep and an idea flashed through his mind. "My greatest treasure!" He exclaimed. And he spent the rest of the night thinking about what happened. The only thing Astrad known for sure is that he never found his notebook.

     "Wow, how interesting. I have often gone to the cave Snowager but I've never lost anything" Martha said pensively. "Well, I think it's too late, thank you for telling me that story, that Will help me with my Project. Thank you!” she added and wrote something down in her notebook.

     "You're welcome Martha, I'm glad I helped," said his uncle, watching the notebook she kept.

     Perhaps, after all, some legends are real.

      The End.

 
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