Student Essay - The Discovery – by Lee Thiel, Year 10, Sayfol International School

The Discovery – by Lee Thiel, Year 10, Sayfol International School

I was an adventurous girl. I had a younger sister and a younger brother, who were also adventurous. We liked to venture into unknown places. We liked inviting new people to our home. We liked sharing and felt happy when we did so. Our family was a happy one and then came the day that we had to move because of my father’s new job. We sold the house we’d been living in since I was born – I was thirteen years old – and bought a small house in the countryside. I wanted to be in the big city but my parents said, “There are lots of fun things in the countryside. I am sure you’ll prefer living in the countryside.” 

From the outside, the house looked good, except for the fact that it was too small for five people to live in. Suddenly, I began to like that house, although I hadn’t been inside it yet. It looked so cosy and the view around the house was beautiful. My parents were correct. I was beginning to like the countryside already. I saw that we had lots of neighbours. The houses around were all quite small. I knew that I would be able to get to know my neighbours and become friends with them easily and quickly. With these thoughts in mind and feelings of anticipation in our hearts, my two siblings and I went into the house to see what it was like.

The kitchen was rather big compared to the size of the house. We counted the rooms – one, two, three, four. Three of those rooms were very small. There were two toilets and there did not seem to be a living room. The kitchen connected the rooms. After roughly examining the internal structure of the house, we began to do it again, this time more carefully. I could never stand it whenever I had a feeling that there was something more to what I was examining. I had to know all the details, being a curious and adventurous child. Just then we found something. There was a kind of door under a mat in the middle of the kitchen! It was very well camouflaged and could not be noticed easily. Being the eldest and the most curious, I put the mat aside bravely and opened the door to the basement. I saw a staircase leading downwards. I tried to imagine what would be down there. A dusty smell wafted upwards.

For a few seconds, silence reigned all around. It was really dark below. The smell of dust made us cough and we hadn’t even entered the basement yet. Rapidly, I took three bright flashlights and gave two of them to my siblings. I told them to wait for me to investigate the area first. Then I descended the stairs very slowly. I found a switch on the wall but it wasn’t working. I examined the basement with my flashlight and saw lots of unusual things. They looked like antiques or at least, some sort of remnant from the past. I was so overwhelmed that I had climb back upstairs. My siblings were waiting for me. I told them what I had seen and told them not to go down because of the dust. 

The next thing I did was to tell my parents. To my surprise, they didn’t know about the existence of the basement. Even the previous owner had no idea it existed! My parents informed the town council. The mayor came and brought some men to recover the precious items. We decided to donate the treasure to the authorities who would put them in a museum. We received plenty of praises and even a monetary reward for our deed. I got praised the most since I was the one who found the door to the basement. I felt like a hero!