the legendary amulet

chapter 1: The Chest, The Button, and Me

Im going through a very tragic and depressing time. My grandmother has just passed away and she was someone who I held dear. She was like my best friend and I loved her, sometimes more than my parents.my mom was an only child and so am i so im my Grammy's only grandchild. i think that's why we are so close. I loved when she told me her childhood stories. I especially loved when she told me myths and said them as if she were a character in the story. " Kimberly, come downstairs we are about to leave and go to grammys house to clean it out". I run downstairs eager to get there and hit the attic first.

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"mom, I will be in the attic." Even though me and Grammy told each other everything she was still a very mysterious person. After she died of an unknown cause I felt as though there was still much more for me to uncover about her. Her death was so sudden and unexpected that I didn't even get to say bye . I slowly tip toe up her wooden stairs to the attic. Despite how close we were she never showed me her attic. That is why I am so curious to look in every chest and find out all I can. As I go up her stairs I hear them cracking beneath my feet. I reach the attic and look for something that catches my eye. Everything was packed in boxes and chests but one particular chest catches my eye as its gold trimming glistens beneath the dust. I gently remove the dust with my fingers and uncover a beautiful painting of a portrait of a beautiful women wearing a necklace with an amulet. The amulet is the only color in the photo the rest of the photo is black and white. On the sides of the chest are pictures that remind me of the midevil time era. as i reach for the lock it instantainiously disingrates through my fingers. i heave open the heavy chest that probablly weighs more than i do. i look inside and see nothing. nothing at all. i was so excited to discover the meaning of the photo and dig deep into every information i found. but no, instead of piles of books i just simply get piles of dust. i wipe away the thick layer of dust settled on the bottom of the chest and reveal an inscription. it is so microscopic i can barely make out what it says but when i take a closer look i see that instead of words there are symbols. they appear to be in, i suppose, some sort of ancient language. similar to heiroglyphics but not exactly. these symbols are more intricit. im no arcgeaologist so i certainly won't be able to decode the message. i take out my ipod and take a quick snapchot of the mysterious writing.

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"mom is it okay if i walk to the library? i want to check out some books." " sure sweety, just make sure you text me when you get there. And i want you back home by 12:00." "okay, thanks mom love you. bye." "love you too. Don't forget to text me." i give her a quick hug then shut the door behind me. the library is only around the corner so it shouldn't take me long to get there. i walk down the sidewalk and stare at all the little ants scurrieng about. i live in a quaint neighborhood in which not much action occurs,and that's the way i like it. i turn the corner and enter the Howland Pink LIbrary. the first thing i do is text my mom,"im here" she replies immediately,"ok." At first i just sort of wander around trying to look for the section about ancient history. A librarian, after watching me confusedly look around, walks over to me. she is an older women in about her late 50s with white, wavy hair reaching to about her shoulders. she is petite and has hazel eyes which i can see clearly because her glasses are at the tip of her nose drooping below her eye level. she greets me with a big, warm smile which gave me a good first impression. "hello miss, im Judy. Do you need any assisstance finding a particular book, genre, or section?" after she spoke i felt a sense of releif and i felt comfortable talking to her. "yes please. i am looking to find the books on ancient history." "ok , do you have any specific interest?" she kindly asks. "yes i do. Do you by any chance have a book full of languages and ancient writing?" "hmmm i beleive so." she motions for me to follow her and she brings me to a bookshelf labeled civilization developement/ ancient history. she quickly browses the shelf and pulls out a book. she opens the book and skims through the pages then puts it back." aha, this is the one i was looking for." she pulls out a different book and hands it to me to look through. " is that what you were looking for little MIss?" i look at the table of contents then flip to the section labeled Symbolism(B.C.). these symbols or as, back then were called letters seemed to be similar to the writing in the chest." Yes, i think so. thank you so much, i appreciate your help." "you are very welcome. just come over to the counter when you are ready to check out. But no rush, take your time." i really have nothing else to get so a follow her over to the counter to check out my book. i hand her my book and she asks, " will that be all?" "yes, thank you." i sweetly reply. " do you have your library card with you?" aw man it slipped my mind. "uh no, can get it by my name?" " yes what's your name miss?" " Kimberly McFarland." She types it into her computer and then prints out a slip and puts it into my book." the book is good until July 14. Have a nice day." "thanks, you too." i walk through the door to leave and i am literally hit with a beam of sun. if i didn't know any better i'd think i was on the sun. it is scorching hot out. When i reach my house i notice my dad's car in the driveway. That's odd because he usually isn't home until 2:00 and it is not even 12:00 yet. i ring the doorbell and my mom comes to the door to greet me. " hi darling, back so soon? Did you find what you wanted. Can you show me?" "Yes i did." i hand her over the book." ohh, that is interesting what's it for?" " it's for a project." that's all i say because the whole attic thing is something i want to be kept to myself. she doesn't say anything else so i run upstairs to my room. i open the book to the page i was looking at before so i can analyze it a bit more. it is definately the symbols from the chest. after looking it over and reading the italics on the margins i run downstairs. "mom, Dad, when are we going to Grammy's house again?" " actually, funny you mention it we were planning on going this afternoon." my dad replies. " ok good. "

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i head back to the attic to look at the chest inscription. i brought my book and a notepad with me so i can decode the message and write it down. i open the chest and copy down the few lines of writing. then i look in the book and try to find the symbol that matches it so i can write down the English translation. once i've written down the whole inscription in english it says," the amulet's power will ever show unless removed thence you go. find the button on the chest to bind the break and be at rest." What????? that makes absolutely no sense. i have never down well with poems. i repeat it over and over again in my head to try and make sense of it. i break it up into sections and paraphrase each section as Mrs. Lewis, my english teacher, always taught me to do. Part 1: the amulet's power will ever show unless removed thence you go. hmmmm. what could that possibly mean? well, by using my common sense i'd interpret it as the amulet has some sort of power and if it's ever removed from, who knows where, someone goes. Who the someone is and where the someone goes is something that i still need to figure out. Part 2: find the button on the chest to bind the break and be at rest. ok.. well this is a bit more confusing than the first part because there is no button in this chest. also what break and how do i bind it if i dont even see any button? i feel around the border of the chest trying to feel for a button. but sadly it's a smooth surface on the inside and outside of the chest. i stare inside the chest for a minute or so searching for other clues that might idicate the button. instead, all i see is dust, bits of thread, and string. i pull one of the strings to analyze it but it doesn't come off the bottom. Instead it opens up a secret compartment underneath the bottom of the chest. the wooden planks on the bottom of the chest seperate and reveal a BUTTON. it is a clear button that is adhered to the bottom of the compartment. i go to press it but something holds me back. it's fear. what does the button even do? what if it it does something to me that i can't reverse? i take a deep breath in and a deep breath out and think long and hard about the decision before me. Should i press it, or should i not? my adventure gets the best of me and takes over. DO IT! it shouts loudly in my head. those two words eco in my mind and peirce my ears. fine i'll do it. (press)