The Book Mystery

The Book Mystery

It’s Jan 2018 as I opened the box. I was stoked to see Books! People sometimes do not understand how important books are to anyone's education. But you may think about why the parent couldn’t buy more books? Some parts of the community are a little poorer than the rest so they try to focus on buying basic needs like food, shelter, clothing, and sometimes knowledge. Many of the kids were home-schooled but didn't have as many books to study with. It worried the parents that kids might not succeed in life without much-needed education. I saw that this was a problem for my community, so I decided to take action. I decided that I will buy 10 different books a month so that at the end of the year I will have 120 books. I knew that it will not be enough for the whole Community but hopefully, more people would be inspired by my actions.

The Festival

It was December and I had collected 120 books. I organized a party for the community that would always be celebrated about once every year. We would call it the “Book Nook Festival”. There will be food, drinks, games, and books. The books could be very cheap at $1 or $2 so that everybody could buy them. We had a pretty good turn around and by 9 PM as the party comes to an end, to my surprise, all of the books were sold out. A few neighbors wanted to start an organization with me to help collect more books by the next Festival. Five other people joined making it six people which made 60 books per month between 720 books per year. I was excited about next year's party, and about the parties after that.

June 2019

My sister, Claire, came over for a vacation and she liked my idea about the book collection. I went to show her the books that I had collected so far, but when I got there most of the books from the garage were gone! I looked around checking if I had misplaced them, even though I knew that I would never do such a careless thing. Claire came to see why I was taking so long, her face looked perplexed as I told her what had happened. “Oh no!” Claire cried “we have to find those books! It would be heartbreaking to see their disappointed faces”. We both knew that books couldn't just go missing. Maybe it was stolen! I couldn't believe that someone would do such a thing to anyone that tries to help. I said, "Maybe we should visit everyone in the community and ask if they have seen anyone suspicious, or if they know any information about our books".

I had only visited the poor side of the community once or twice but it still was hard for me to know where I was going. The leaves on the trees were beautiful, shaped like a flame. There were brownie colored with a tip of light brown, looking as if they were dipped into melted caramel. The houses.... well they were painting nicely, but maybe the size could be improved. Just looking at the size of the houses I had created an image, tight and small caves, in my mind, I cringed by the thought of being able to be comfortable. Some houses were light blue, with white outlines of the windows and roofs. Other houses wear maroon colors with brown outlines. We knocked on the first house. No reply. We knocked on the second house. No reply. We had knocked about 15 houses, but no one had responded. "Why is nobody home! " Claire said, obviously exhausted. "Maybe they're on vacation," I said. Claire looks at me as if I told her that they went to another universe. As we walk down the community, I wondered where everybody went, and how the books could have gone missing. We rang one more house, and to our surprise, a woman opens the door. "Sorry but this is our school hours and we would like it if no one disturbed us," she said. Then she started inspecting me. "Oh my!" she said " It's you! you gave us more books. Please come in!" she gestured towards a sofa. They took their children to school! She was right. As I looked around, I saw all of the children and hopeful parents. The woman that answered the door came up to us. " I don't think I fully introduce myself. My name is Lauren, and this is my house or my school." she said. " It's nice to meet you, Lauren, " I said replying "I'm Anastasia, and this is my sister, Claire." "The books that you gave us have made a really big impact. The children have loved reading your books and they have been studying better. " Lauren said " We really appreciate that you are thinking about us. Thank you! " I had almost forgotten about asking if anybody had seen my books. Thankfully, Claire remembered. " Excuse me, " Claire said getting everyone's attention, "The reason we are here is because the books that Anastasia had collected so far, have gone missing. If you know anything or have any suspicions of anyone, please come forward and tell us." No one told us anything. They all look sympathetic. " I am sorry, but it looks like no one knows anything about your books that have gone missing. " Lauren said. As we walked home, I was thinking about what had happened. I was heartbroken. "At least the other five numbers would have their books ready for the festival." "At least. " Claire said with a sad sigh.

December

The day of the festival arrived The festival went well. People were happy. The weight of worry had finally been lifted off their shoulders. "I'm sorry about your book loss." I turned around and saw some of the children behind me. "We have something for you." a girl said. She handed me a bouquet filled with diverse flowers. It was filled with orchids, roses, and pink daffodils. "It's beautiful!" I said, "Thank you!" They ran away laughing.

After the party

We still didn't find the books, but after watching all of the happy people, I didn't mind. It's weird that the books have gone missing. It was a mystery, and it will remain a mystery until we find them.

Afterward

I was in my room with my sister, reading some books. Suddenly, we heard somebody knocking at the door. I ran downstairs, curious to see who it was. A little girl was standing there wearing a guilty expression. She was holding something big which looked as if there was something stacked on top of another. She quickly handed it to me and spoke, " I am really sorry Anastasia. I took your books because I was tired of waiting for the festival. I thought that I could return them as soon as possible, I thought you wouldn't notice!" she burst into tears. "It's okay. I won't tell anyone about it I'll just tell them that I had misplaced them." I said. "Thank you, Anastasia. I promise I will ask next time if I want to borrow your books." and with that, she ran off. "I guess it really is happily ever after. " I turned around and saw Claire standing there smiling. I closed the door and turn to her. "I guess so too. " I said