Summer holidays will not be the same because of one thing. My aunt is going to stay over for 2 weeks with her annoying son Adrith. Adrith and I have never gotten along well. As the troublemaker, Adrith always made sure to offend me, make me uncomfortable, or just straight up irritate me. Every time he would throw tantrums for everything, even if it had nothing to do with him. I buy a can of soda with the money I earned by doing part-time jobs. He will throw a tantrum. While he still has to go to online lessons, I am relaxing on my phone. He will complain to my mother like I did something illegal. All of this never made me want to spend time with him or be with him at all. To take my mind out of this, I decided to go to my attic to look through my old belongings. I was going over my picture albums when I spotted an old diary, which said 'My Adventures as a Marine.' Written by my very own grandfather.
Excited, I flipped through the book and then found an old piece of paper that had cryptic clues written. As a puzzle guy, I was very happy to find a puzzle that was not so easy that could be solved by a 6-year-old. As I was trying to find a lead in the clues annoying Adrith found me and snatched the paper from me and said, "What are you doing? even I want to do it." in the most annoying tone possible. With great patience, I was able to explain to Adrith what I was onto. Then he said, "I want to solve it!" for which I said, "You won't be able to solve it on your own. So let's both work together to solve it." That moment, I wasn't expecting to hear him say "yes." After that, I said, "Let us first gather all the clues we can get our hands on, and then we shall start piecing together the information." For which he just nodded.
After some digging, I found a clue that would show the direction and reveal the truth behind the Riddle. The clue said, "A tale of orphans, fortunes lost, and dreams that come at heavy cost. Seek where Pip's great expectations lie—a written world where secrets hide. A year of chapters, first revealed, where next you'll go, is now concealed." Looking at it, I chose to use an online tool to simplify the wording because I knew that even if William Shakespeare were to come back to life, I would still be unable to make sense out of it. After running it through, it said, "Discover a story about orphans, lost fortunes, and dreams that come with a heavy price. Follow Pip's journey in a world filled with hidden secrets. In this year of unfolding chapters, the next destination remains a mystery." Seeing this, I knew what I was dealing with; I said, "It is talking about Great Expectations by Charles Dickens."
Adrith squinted at the paper, he said. "Great Expectations? What's that supposed to mean?" He tapped his foot impatiently. Then, it clicked him. "Wait a minute... isn't that the really thick book on the shelf with the dusty cover? I remember Mom reading it to me once." He surprised me by remembering that. 'Maybe we should check it out.'" As I got the book, I flipped through it and found another tattered piece of paper just like the first one. But as I was going through the book for other possible clues, I found that the number 6 was highlighted in yellow, 8 was in red, and 4 was in bright green. Thinking that it would be important, I wrote them down in my notepad. The clue said, "From written words to sculpted grace, a goddess' wisdom, time and space. Her marble gaze, a silent guide, to her feathered friend, where hounds reside. Seek where her wise companion waits, and count the feathers, fate dictates." From the clue, it is easy to say that it is talking about a marble statue of a goddess related to wisdom, time and space. Knowing we wouldn't be able to figure it out, we decided to ask my father.
"Make sure you don't sound suspicious, ok?" said Adrith. "I know," I replied. As soon as I found him free, I went to him and asked, "Um.. dad, do we have a statue of a goddess made of marble?" for which he said, "Your grandpa had a bust of Pallas Athena in his room." And as soon as I heard this, I came to the terrible realization that Grandpa's room has been shut and unopened ever since he passed away. As I walked away, Adrith asked, "What happened?" "We can't complete this. The statue is in Grandpa's room!" We were still thinking about it at bed when Adrith sat up, his eyes gleaming. 'I've got it!' he whispered, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. 'What if we...?' He outlined his plan, and I had to admit, it was brilliant. It was risky, but it was our only chance. 'You're actually thinking,' I said, surprised. 'Don't get used to it,' he said, but I saw a flicker of pride in his eyes."
After breakfast, Adrith asked everyone to come to the park, and it worked! After 5 minutes, he said he wanted to use the restroom and successfully borrowed the keys. Then I offered to accompany him till the house. We went in the house and opened the door of Grandpa's room. As we entered, we were greeted by beautiful woodwork, lots of statues and 2 years worth of dust. I located the bust, raised it to inspect it, and from the base dropped the 3rd clue. I bent to pick it up, and from the corner of my eye, I saw a number written on the base in a peculiar color. The number 9 was written in indigo. I wrote it down in my notepad as we started locking the door and making our way back to the park before our parents got worried.
As we were on our way, we started discussing the clue which said, "The dogs and leashes, lead the way, to a street number, come what may. Add the street number to the resident's name; this final place is where you aim." "So it is talking about the kennel in the backyard?" asked Adrith, for I answered, "Yes, and I think it is saying that the leashes and bowls will tell the house number, and the name of its resident is the street we need to go." After another hour of walking, we reached home and ran to the backyard to investigate the Kennel. We saw 12 leashes and 3 bowls. "How will we make sense out of this?" said Adrith. "Wait, the street is the name of the resident, so the street is Elm because the dog's last name is Elm!" Then Adrith said, " And in Elm Street the houses are from 120 to 127, so the house is probably 123!" I have to admit, but this was probably the smartest I and Adrith have ever been.
We decided to go to this mystery man's house the next day. We soon after went to bed, but both of us did not sleep at all and were too excited about our discovery. That night Adrith asked, "What do you think will be the mystery?" "I don't know; maybe it is some heirloom, which we might inherit?" "No, I think it might be a treasure or even a secret he might want to share." "Maybe, but for now it is a mystery!"
Looking back, I realized how the mystery had brought both of us together and now that we are really good cousins. We pedaled down Elm Street, the old houses casting long shadows in the morning light. At the far end, number 123 stood out, its brick walls a faded red, and the garden a tangle of overgrown roses. A weathered wooden sign hung crookedly by the door: "#123, Elm Street, Rtd. Cap. David Bose." This is when I knew that the mystery was deeply related to Grandpa being in the Navy.
We knocked on the door and answered a man well in his 80's. He asked, "What brings you here, 'ol lads?" I say, "I'm here for the Riddle." He then said, "This is what you need to see, boys; the vault of mystery is what ol' Veer used to call." It had a note on it that said, "Put all numbers in the rainbow order to unlock the secrets it keeps." "Oh, so that's why the numbers," I exclaimed. "But wait, I only have 4 numbers! Then how will I open the crate?" Looks like you did not get enough clues, but when you get them, be sure to come back." I walked out of the house dejected when Adrith said, "What a weird color choice for the house number." That is when I saw that the house number had the exact colors missing from my list.
With my new-found knowledge, I was able to crack the code, which was 8164293. After entering it, I found a sword! which David told me was the exact sword with which my grandfather was honored. Seeing the sword reminded me of Grandpa, whom I dearly missed. Seeing that David said, "Why is lad gettin' weepy?" to which Adrith said, "Veer is his grandpa." After calming down, I found that there was also a note that said, "This sword was supposed to be a secret forever, but it seems like you have picked up the trail and came all the way here. The real gift here though is not the sword, but the memories you have made while solving the mystery." It looks like my grandfather was not wrong. The real prize here was not the sword but the disappearance of the rivalry between Me and Adrith ever since.
