In
an instant, the Kindness Kids
had whooshed through Cyberspace
and appeared at their destination.
But at first they didn't see
anything, just the emptiness
of Cyberspace.
"Wait,
look over there!" Erin pointed
and they all saw something in
the distance. As they stared
together, they realized that
it looked just like a treasure
map laid out with a black marker.
"Come
on," Sunanda laughed, and they
all started running towards
it. As they got closer, they
saw that the "black line" was
really a tall wall that seemed
to stretch out forever in both
directions.
"Hmm…"
they all sighed. Now what? The
wall was too high to climb.
"Maybe
there's a gate somewhere," Jamal
suggested, and they started
walking together along the wall's
perimeter. Sure enough, they
could see an entrance a hundred
feet down. They all headed towards
it.
"Wait,
Johnny said pointing twenty
feet further. "Look there's
another entrance...that one
looks more inviting... " He
ran towards the second gate.
A few of the kids followed him.
"Uh…"
Maya said as Johnny was about
to go inside. "Wait a sec. There's
another entrance a little further
up ahead. Maybe that's
the one we're supposed to try?"
When they reached that gate,
they saw another entrance further
down the wall, and off in the
distance they could see gate
after gate.
The Kindness Kids weren't sure
what to do. Some of them wanted
to go into the first gate, some
the second and some the third
or the fourth or the eighth
or the tenth. "Should we split
up?" they wondered.
"Look
guys," Sunanda said, taking
a deep breath. She was standing
in front of the first entrance
and had a strong feeling they
should try that one, but she
felt even more strongly that
they should take their time
to make the right decision.
"Let's just stand here a moment
together in silence and then
we'll make a decision together."
The Kindness
Kids all agreed - they often
found that moments of silence
together helped them think more
clearly. Oftentimes it even
brought them help. They all
joined hands and stood in a
circle with their eyes closed.
It
wasn't very long when softly,
but very distinctly, they began
to hear a gentle melody floating
towards them from somewhere
in the distance.
They
all recognized the humming voice
immediately! Sunanda wanted
to open her eyes and peek, but
she, like the other kids, took
a deep breath first. Then they
opened their eyes and turned
in unison towards the second
entrance where they'd heard
the humming coming from.
"Hooray!"
they shouted when they saw that
it was indeed Fortuna the Spirt
of Kindness, their CyberGuide,
as they'd suspected. They knew
from experience that even if
they hardly ever got to see
her here, she always watched
over them in Cyberspace and
kept them safe, and sometimes
she joined the Kindness Kids
on their adventures.
They
ran to her, and hugged her.
They always felt so wonderful
cloaked in her lovingkindness.
After a moment or so, they began
to remember their questions
and everyone started speaking
at once.
Fortuna
smiled. "All will be answered
in time," she whispered. "It's
all part of your adventure."
She held them all closer as
she began to hum a gentle melody.
They felt themselves softly
twirling in the breeze, and
when they opened their eyes,
Fortuna was floating away. She
winked, and waved lovingly at
them before she disappeared,
dancing through one of the gates.
The
kids were a little disappointed,
but they were always happy to
catch even a glimpse of Fortuna,
and they knew they'd be seeing
her again, soon. And they certainly
couldn't have asked for a clearer
sign about which gate to go
through.
But
the entrance was locked when
they tried it. The kids didn't
know what to think.
"Maybe
we should split up and try the
other gates to see if they open?"
José suggested.
"No,
Fortuna definitely wanted us
to go through this one…" Erin
beamed. Everyone agreed.
"But
how?" Ahmed and Sol sighed together.
"Hang
on guys," Johnny said. While
the kids were trying to figure
out what to do next, he'd pulled
out the tiny magnifying glass
and had started to examine the
old wooden door. Right where
you'd expect a door knocker
to be, he found something.
"What
does it say?!" the kids gasped
when he told them there was
something written on the door.
"It's
another web address... www.EcoTreasureMap.com/gate.htm"
Before Johnny had even finished
saying the web address, Ahmed
had typed it onto his laptop.
But before he pressed enter,
Erin suggested the Kindness
Kids have another moment of
silence, to thank Fortuna. So
that's what they did. Then Ahmed
clicked the link.
www.EcoTreasureMap.com/gate.htm