Once, on a sunny day in Washington D.C., a girl named Lily stared out at the Washington Monument. A few hours earlier, her mom had gotten separated from her in the crowd.

***

She had my ticket, which meant that I couldn’t get out. I looked through the crowds, and I thought, so many people! As night fell, the crowd left. Then, it was only me. Or so I thought. I roamed around the monument, looking at the displays.

Creak! I heard a sound from the other room.

“Where is the treasure,” he whispered.

Just then, a piece of paper floated into the room I was in. My heart was beating fast. I picked up the piece of paper. It said, Treasure in Washington Monument.

“Ah ha, so he is looking for the treasure,” I said to myself. I decided to find it first.

I sat down on the floor and thought, What if this is just a rumor. But I decided to go with it. I stared at the paper. It said, Treasure in monument. Hidden in bricks. Top secret.

Not so secret anymore, I thought. Before I could do anything, I heard a whisper.

“Where did that paper go?” He sounded angry. I shivered and held the paper close. If I was going to find the treasure, I better find it fast. If it was a brick that the treasure was in, it would be loose. I wiggled some of the bricks, and l realized that this would take forever. I glanced down at the paper and saw that in the corner in tiny writing was, P.S. it’s on the second floor.

I now had a major lead. Heading down to the second floor wasn’t going to be easy, but I was determined. I could hardly wait to see my mother’s face. As I raced down the steps, I felt like I was being followed. When I turned around, I saw a shape. Uh-oh! I was stuck in the Washington Monument with a thief that could do anything to me.

I ducked into the bathroom and started thinking. He was bigger than me, smarter, stronger. Who knew what he could do to me. But I was going to find the treasure, no matter what.

I looked out the bathroom window and saw it was getting light. After staying up all night, I was really tired. I yawned and got up. I thought again. Was finding the treasure worth risking my life. If he had a weapon, he could kill me. I had to make a decision, should I look for the treasure or hide? I decided to hide. I really wanted to find the treasure, but I didn’t want to get hurt.

“Lily!” It was Mom. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry! Security made me get out. Are you okay?” she asked. She looked worried.

“I’m fine!”

The next day at school, my teacher was teaching math. I thought it was boring and wrote my adventure from yesterday down. My hair was all tangled, and my shoes were worn-out. That was fun, but I was glad it was all over. It was pretty scary! I thought. But I might go back to investigate!

Part Two

I was sitting in my classroom. I thought of what happened the day before.

Maybe, I thought, I can go back and see if the thief is there tonight. This time, I will take my mom with me.

“Attention, everyone. Mr. Poop is absent today. Music is canceled,” the principal announced. Everyone groaned. This meant math for the rest of the day.

That night, I told my mom about my idea. After some thought, she said, “I will come with you. However, you have to promise to stay with me. Let’s pack.”

We walked to the Monument, and I told Mom we should sneak in through the side. As we walked up the stairs, I heard a man’s voice. “I didn’t do music today, so I could plan.”

I couldn’t hear the rest because my mom interrupted. “Lily, hurry up!”

“Mom, someone is here in the monument!”

“Really?!”

“Listen!”

“The treasure is on the second floor. I pulled out the brick a little,” the man said. He knows where the treasure is, I thought.

We made our way up to the second floor, and I was thinking about what the man had said. I didn’t do music today so I could plan. Those words seemed to bother me a little. They sounded weird.

When we got to the second floor, I saw a brick that was half pulled out. I ran towards it and jerked it out. I heard footsteps. I looked where the brick used to be. In there, was a glimmering necklace. The footsteps were getting louder. I snatched the necklace and pulled my mom into a closet. I watched to see how the thief would react. It was too dark to see his face, but he groped around and stuck his hand in the hole. “Huh,” he made a weird noise. I tried not to laugh. “Where did that brick go,” he yelled.

He pulled out his phone.

“Mr. Snogglewartle, the treasure is gone!” the thief said. I gasped. Mr. Snogglewartle was my principal’s name!

“Mom, did you hear that! My principal is working with the thief!”

“Oh my!” she said, sounding surprised.

“Let’s get out of here!” I said. As we were going down, we heard footsteps. We started to run.

“What are you doing!” the thief said.

We ran faster. Finally, he caught up to us. “Mr. Poop! What are you doing here?” He didn’t answer. Oh well, at least that answers the, I didn’t do music today because I had to plan. He was my music teacher! We fled.

“Wait!” Mr. Poop yelled.

We ran all the way home. For about 20 minutes, just straight running.

At home, we slammed the door shut. “Where should we put the necklace?” I asked my mom.

“We want to keep it safe. If the story leaks, we are in big trouble.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because, if the story leaks, then thieves are going to try to steal the necklace.”

“So? Where should we put the necklace?” I asked my mom. After a while of thought, my mom thought that we should donate it to a museum.

“If we donate it to a museum, it could be seen by many people. For everyone to enjoy.”

Thief in monument caught. That was what it said in the newspaper.

The next day, I was at the museum. The necklace in its display case glimmered more than ever. Under the display was a small, yellow card. It said, Donated by Miss Lily Burger. I was happy it said my name on it.

I felt really glad that the necklace was in its place. Everything had turned out well, I thought. In the end, I was happy with everything that had happened.