The Buried Treasure

Midge was sitting on the front porch with a large piece of paper laying on the porch in front of her. She was staring at the paper work when Jake and Booker-T came through the gate into the yard.

"He's Midge," said Jake. "What are you doing?"

"I found this paper in the back yard," said Midge. "It was laying against the fence. I think the wind blew it into the yard."

"What is it for?" asked Booker-T.

"I don't know" said Midge. "What does it say at the top of the paper, Jake?"

Jake sat down beside Midge and stared at the paper. "It looks like some kind of map," said Jake.

"What does it say at the top of the paper?" asked Booker-T.

"It says that it is a treasure map," said Jake.

"Do you think it will show us where some treasure is?" asked Midge.

"I don't know," said Jake. "If it was real, why would it have blown into your yard? People would be very careful with it."

"Maybe," said Midge. "What is the big red X doing on the map?"

"Maybe who had the map was going to try and find the X spot and on the way there, they lost the map and it blew into your yard," suggested Booker-T. "Now we have it. Do you think we can try to find the treasure?"

"I saw one of those maps in a movie one time," said Jake.

"Did they find the treasure in the movie?" asked Midge.

"They were searching for it, but I don't think they found the treasure," said Jake. "They were all disappointed that they couldn't find it."

"Hey you guys!" said Gabby as he flew down from the tree and landed on the porch railing. "What are you doing?"

"It is a map Gabby," replied Midge. "Do you think it is real?"

Gabby flew down and landed on the paper and walked back and forth across it. "Looks like a treasure map, guys," smiled Gabby. "Where did you get a treasure map?"

"I found it in my back yard," said Midge.

"Are you sure it is a real treasure map, Gabby?" asked Jake.

"It looks like it," said Gabby. "That big X on it is where the treasure is suppose to be buried. It might be real, but I don't know for sure."

"Can we go get the treasure?" asked Booker-T. "Maybe it is gold."

"What would we do with gold?" asked Midge. "I want some bones."

"I don't think the humans would bury bones," laughed Jake.

"Where is the X at?" asked Booker-T.

Jake studied the map for a few minutes and looked up at everyone waiting for his answer. "This spot here is the water park across the street, so the X must be at the skateboard park," said Jake.

"Let's go see what the treasure is," said Midge. "I want to find it."

"Is the treasure buried?" asked Booker-T.

"It's buried treasure so yes," said Gabby. "It would be buried. It will be hard to find."

"It won't be where the X is?" asked Midge.

"It just means this is the general area," said Gabby.

"This could be a very big job," said Jake. "Do we want to do all that digging? Remember when we were all digging for my lost bones one day?"

"I remember," said Midge. "It was a lot of work that day digging all those holes in your yard."

"My owner was not happy when she came home and saw all the holes," said Jake. "She put me on a chain in the back for a week after that. Let's go to the skateboard park and see where it is. Maybe it won't be buried."

They ran along the sidewalk to the skateboard ramp. Gabby landed on a small tree near the ramp. Midge, Jake and Booker-T slowly walked around the skateboard ramp, looking near the trees and bushes.

"Do you see anything? asked Midge.

"No," sighed Jake.

"I don't see anything either," said Booker-T.

"I think Gabby is right," said Midge. "It is buried somewhere here."

"Do you want to start digging?" asked Booker-T.

"The humans will get angry if we dig a lot of holes here," said Jake.

"I wanted to see what it is," sighed Booker-T.

"Me too," said Midge. "But we don't know where to dig."

"I guess you are right," said Booker-T.

"Lets go see the animals at the petting zoo," suggested Jake.

"Okay," agreed Midge. "That will be more fun anyway."

"Finding treasure would have been fun," said Booker-T.

"But it would have been a lot of work," said Gabby. "It might take all day digging and you may not find one."

"And maybe this treasure map isn't real," said Jake. "Maybe it is just a map the kids were playing with and it blew away from them."

"Jake's right," said Midge. "If it was real, I think the person who had it would protect it better than this."

"It sure looked real," said Booker-T.

"Maybe one day, we will find a real treasure," said Midge. "Now lets go to the petting zoo."

They all ran through the gate and along the sidewalk to the zoo.