Peace

Peace stood in front of the warm fire place next to her dog Toto as she listened to her grandfather read Sherlock Holms aloud. She loved the way her grandfather read, the way his lips moved and the sound of his smooth voice reading the great book.
“Grandpa,” said Peace, “What was my mother like?”
“Its 9:30 now. Off to bed. You have a trip to the museum tomorrow at 9:00. So go to bed!”
Her grandparents never told Peace about her parents.
“Sigh.”

Peace woke up about 7:00 in the morning, got dressed, took Toto for a walk, fed him and ate breakfast.
After all that is was 8:30.
“Grandma, what was my father like?”

“Oh, you will be late for the trip. Hurry and get in the van!”

“OK. You don’t have to yell.”
“This fossil was donated by a young kid about 14 years old. He found it in his own yard!
“Any Questions? None? Ok, let’s move on,” said the guide.

Peace got home about 4:00. Her Grandma and Grandpa had already left for a big party that night. So Peace was all alone. She found a note on the fridge door:
Dear Peace,
We will be home at 11:00. If you want, you can stay up till then, but make sure you have the left over pasta from last night.
And stay out of the attic! Keep the lights on.
Grandma.
“Stay out of the attic.” She heard that one all the time!
What was up there? Money? No that can’t be it. Maybe she could peek up there just this once.
Peace ran up the attic stairs and grabbed the attic door knob and…
It was locked. There was a rug in the front of the door.
That was stupid; put a rug in front of a locked attic door.
A rug in front of a locked door? I know! The keys are probably under the rug. Yep!
Peace opened the door and walked in, the room was full of boxes, and one of them was full to the top with journals. Peace grabbed the one on the bottom, and on the front it said, “Violet Humbearg.” Humbearg…that was Peace’s last name! The journal must have belonged to her mother. Inside on the first page it said…
Today we get to go to China and save the panda’s. I’ve got to go. Shaun is ready. Bye!
Violet
“What do those words say? They went where to save what? Could my parents still be alive?” Peace said.
The next Morning Peace got up and got ready for school.
Then she realized it was Saturday! She had all day to find out more about her parents.
Maybe she should start by finding out their flight information. Peace knew that they would have flown out of Lancing because her grandparents said they’d lived there all their life.
She ran to her computer and looked up flight histories for the three air ports in Lancing. She did a search on the names Violet and Shaun Humbearg, and she found information on an old flight to China.
China? Could it be true? Is it just a weird coincidence? Peace was going to China herself in just three days, to visit her aunt Mary. Perfect! Peace hoped her luck would continue when she got there.
Three days later Peace arrived at her Aunts house. Aunt Mary was a scientist studying the endangerment of the panda species.
“Hello Peace. Wow, you have grown a whole lot since the last time I saw you.”
“Hi Aunt Mary. I missed you so much! China is so beautiful. Maybe after I unpack I can go for a walk in the forest? Your property here is amazing.”
“Sure, Peace. Quite independent aren’t you? Hmmm…you remind me of someone I know. Okay, I’ll show you to your room so you can get settled. Then come have a snack and chat with me for a few minutes.”
After they talked for a little while, Aunt Mary gave Peace a compass, a phone and small dagger to cut through any thick branches.
As Peace began her walk, she went a different way than her aunt showed her. She thought it would be more fun, but within ten minuets she realized she was lost. When she reached for her compass she noticed that it wasn’t in her pocket. She must have dropped it. As she opened the phone to call her aunt, she noticed the battery was dead, and as she tried to remember her path, she ended up feeling further and further away from her aunt’s house.
Up ahead she saw a light and began walking toward it. As she got closer, she could see a camp and two people that looked like Americans talking to some kind of native villagers.
They seemed to be speaking Chinese. Peace didn’t know what they were saying, but it looked like the man and woman were introducing themselves. Peace listened carefully. She could have sworn she heard the woman say “Violet and Shaun.” Could it be?
Peace walked quickly toward the tribe.
“Mom! Dad!” Said Peace as she stepped out of the bushes.
“Peace?” Said Veronica and Shaun at the same time.
“Yes!”

-By Skyler Stahlmann
Age 10