The Mysterious Letter

When I emptied my backpack after school, a tiny folded invitation slipped onto my desk. It was carefully drawn with vines around the edges and signed by a creature named Alder, who was described as to be no bigger than a thimble and the leader of a group called the dwarves. It invited me to a meeting at midnight beneath the oldest bridge in town.

Although it seemed impossible, curiosity got the better of me.

That night, I walked to the bridge. As the clock struck twelve, dozens of tiny lanterns flickered beneath the stone arch. A group of miniature creatures emerged from the shadows and disappeared through a narrow opening hidden between the rocks, just barely big enough for a human like me to get through.

“So you came”, a rough voice said from behind me.

I jumped and spun around to see a small figure leaning against the wall. I figured this must be Alder as he was no bigger than a thimble but he had an authoritative note in his voice that signaled he was the leader of these creatures.

He led me down the tunnel until we reached an underground chamber filled with row and row of maps. Swarming around the chamber were countless little creatures similar in looks to Alder himself.

Alder explained to me that they were searching for a special map that showed the safest path through the tunnels beneath the town that had gone missing a few days ago.

“We hoped that bringing in a new set of eyes might help find the map for we have all grown tired of searching.” Alder said.

As I looked around, I noticed a corner of paper sticking out from beneath a loose stone. I pulled it free and realized it was the missing map. The dwarves carefully unrolled the ancient map and everyone was surprised when they realized it was the actual map.

After thanking me gratefully, Alder led me back to the surface. When I looked back, the lanterns had gone out and the bridge looked as ordinary as ever. I thought I had imagined the whole thing but when I reached into my pocket, the invitation was still there.

From then on, every time I crossed that bridge, I thought about that mysterious letter that led me to the amazing events that happened after.