The search for the puzzle

A Comenius Fairy Tale

This is what happens when pupils from Spain start a fairy tale and Greece, the Netherlands and Germany carry on with the story:

The search for the puzzle

Once upon a time there were two young children, a girl and a boy called Joan and Maria.

They were both from Menorca and they both loved exploring, discovering mysteries and having adventures. Joan was tall, cool and strong. He had normal and curly hair and brown eyes. He normally wore a sweatshirt and jeans. Maria was not tall or short. She had long and brown hair with brown eyes. Normally she wore a T-shirt and jeans. On a good Wednesday evening they came out of school and went home. When they got home, there was nobody there. They looked on the answer machine on the telephone and they saw that there was a message: “Hello, Joan and Maria; it’s your mother speaking. I am just letting you know that your granddad Josep has died; eat what is in the fridge and come to your granddad’s house”. When they got to their granddad’s house, they saw that their parents were very sad. A few days later, they shared the inheritance. Joan and Maria got the night table of their granddad, which they opened once they arrived home. They found a magic ball that didn’t stop shining, a map of Europe with a path that went over 7 countries. Italy, France, Germany, Wales, Minorca, Greece and Holland., 14 plane tickets, two for each country and an old note of their granddad which had the following words: “I want you to keep it a secret between yourselves. You have to find a piece of a puzzle in each country that have been searched for lots of years and have never been found; the ball and the map will help you find them."

Later, they went back home to their grandad’s house because their parents were still there. They asked their parents if they could go on summer holidays; they said yes after the kids gave a few reasons. They wanted to go on holidays; they wanted to enjoy exploring things about these countries; to know new people and to see their old friends from these countries that they had met the previous summer in the hotel where their father worked for the season. When the summer holidays arrived, they said goodbye to their parents and started this great adventure.

Their first destination was Greece. When they arrived there, they met their Greek friends, Dimitris and Katerina, who would put them up for a few days. They ate delicious foods, went out and saw great places. At night something odd happened. Joan and Maria had the same dream, in which their grandfather was repeating a riddle. It said: “The piece of the puzzle you’re searching lies where the sun of a Great man rises”. The children were perplexed and kept thinking about it all night. The following day, they paid a visit at the Archaeological Museum with their friends. At some point, Joan and Maria were alone in a big hall and staring at the statues, when a voice was heard. Frightened as they were, they realized that a statue of a tall woman behind them was alive and started talking with these words: “Hello children! My name is Athena and I’m one of the twelve ancient Greek Gods. Don’t be scared….I just want to give you a helping hand.”

After five minutes the children left the museum with a gift from the goddess; an owl, the bird of wisdom, which would help them solve the riddle and find what they were looking for. They were so thrilled and their adventure had just begun! After that morning, the first thing to do was to buy a map of Greece and work out the information they had. Both Joan and Maria were trying hard to come up with an idea but they couldn’t find the solution. Suddenly, the owl flew over the map and left its droppings! The children found it very funny and started laughing loudly. However, some seconds later they understood why that had happened and noted at the spot of the bird’s droppings. Its name was Vergina, an archeological area which was known as the capital of the Macedonian Kingdom. After that, they packed their things and got ready for the mystery! As soon as they arrived at Vergina they felt elated. It was awesome! The symbol of the place was a sun and there were monuments of Alexander the Great. They remembered the riddle and now their information fitted with that place. The children were wandering for a long time, when the ball fell off Marias’ hands and tumbled far away. Joan ran and followed the ball which had stopped and shined more than ever. The two children started digging at that spot and…..SURPRISE! Among the stones there was a big piece of a puzzle! It was amazing and they were really happy. The first piece was now in their hands and it was time for the next journey.

Joan and Maria were getting desperate. Since they were in Holland they hadn’t got a single clue as how to find the next piece of the puzzle. Their friends Kai and Sara had tried to help them, but even they were out of ideas now. They had met each other last year at an international summer camp and had gladly offered them to stay.

Joan was bored and late that night he sat on the balcony, lazily throwing the magic ball up and down, when it slipped from his hand and rolled over the map that was on the small table. It briefly seemed to light up blue. Joan frowned and held the orb over the map. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’, he mumbled when he saw that a silvery blue sort of star showed itself under the orb’s glow. ‘Maria! I have found it’, he yelled over his shoulder. With sleepy eyes Maria, Kai and Sara joined him on the balcony. ‘Look! The orb shows the place’, he announced proudly. ‘How strange ... it’s under water. That’s what you Dutch call ‘De Waddenzee’ right?’ Maria said after taking a good look. ‘Well’, Kai chuckled ‘we Dutch are famous for walking on water you know.’ Joan and Maria didn’t understand him. ‘When the tide is low, the water pulls back and you can walk on the seabed to the islands there, in this case Vlieland. It’s very popular among our people.’ ‘Are you serious?’ Joan laughed. It sure sounded incredulous. ‘Yeah, we can go tomorrow if you like.’ ‘Seems fine, but we’ll have to keep our eyes open’ Maria smiled. Joan nodded and folded the map so he could put it in his backpack. Another sparkle of light flashed, this time on the back of the map. ‘Hey Maria, could you hold the orb above the map for a moment?’ ‘It’s a riddle’, she said excitedly. ‘Well, read it.’

‘In ages gone by, mankind has searched for me, but only one has really found out my secret. At that moment all the world’s disasters were unleashed. When I was closed and stolen away, I still kept one other secret inside. But beware, to find this prize you may still not look inside. Then the world may come to an end.’

‘That must be Pandora’s Box, without a doubt’, whispered Maria. ‘Wow! That would make us rich’, Joan smirked. ‘No you fool, if it’s real, then the box is too dangerous to be known.’ ‘I know, I was just imagining’, he pouted. ‘Let’s find out first thing tomorrow morning, during low tide.’ They were up early the next morning and left for the coast with the map and the orb. When they reached their destination, Joan felt his spirits drop. ‘Man it’s huge, how are we ever going to find it?’ ‘We’re getting help’, Maria laughed and she pointed at a familiar bird. The owl showed them the way over the seabed. ‘It’s not going to leave its droppings again, is it?’ Joan snorted. But the bird didn’t, instead it landed on the wet sand, impatiently clawing it. ‘It’s time to start digging, boys’, Sara laughed. After some minutes the shovel that Kai had brought hit something under the sand. Joan dug the last part with his hands and lifted a plain black box. ‘That’s Pandora’s Box; it isn’t much to look at, is it. I expected something grander.’ Maria looked disappointed too, but still offered to try and get the puzzle piece. There was no opening to be found, but when she put her hand on it her fingers slid inside. ‘Quick, look away, I’m in. Remember you must not look or all will be lost!’ They all closed their eyes. Maria gently probed the inside of the box until her fingers closed around something solid. With a loud ‘aha’ she pulled her hand back and brought out a stone piece of a puzzle. ‘We did it!’ They put the box back in its deep place, where it had been hidden for ages and started their way back over the seabed, before the water would come back. ‘Now our search can continue.’

As the days were passing, Maria and Joan were disappointed. Both of them were thinking hard, how to find another clue but they hardly had any idea. As they walked their way home, it suddenly started to rain. “Oh my god”, Joan yelled,”There is an inscription!” Right in this moment, Maria turned to him and they had a closer look at the inscription. “Bible reborn” it just said. None of them knew what it meant. Maria suggested going to the library in order to investigate. When they were on their way, they passed a statue of Martin Luther. Joan remembered that their history teacher told them about the story of the Bible. “Germany”, he suddenly screamed, “It is Germany!” Maria tried to read the inscription on the statue, but it was Dutch. Horst and Berta, two German youngsters, were standing nearby and politely offered their help: “May we help you?” “Could you please translate this inscription for us?” “Sure”, the two Germans replied, “It says: Martin Luther translated the Bible into German on the Wartburg in Germany…” “That’s it!” Maria and Joan cried out. “We have to leave immediately.

Although we have the tickets, we have no accommodation.” “No problem”, Horst said, “You can stay with us! We live in Eisenach, right beside the castle. Let’s just take the first plane to Germany.” When they arrived in Germany, a few hours later, they began looking for the clue right away. Maria wondered where to go to. So, Berta suggested taking a guided tour through the castle. At the end of the tour, they came to the room where Luther translated the Bible. “This must be the place”, exclaimed Maria. “Yes, but where exactly?” Joan asked. At that moment the owl started flying around the room it suddenly stopped, fainted and fell down on a certain spot in the corner, which started sparkling after that. They realized that this was the place they were looking for. Joan got near the spot and tried to lift it up by using his penknife. He succeeded and what he saw left him speechless. Not only one of the pieces of the puzzle was under it, but all four of them. They put all the pieces together and what did they see? A single word, a magic word.

KALEIDOSCOPE*! At first they didn’t understand what it meant, but when they saw Dimitris, Katerina, Kai and Sara coming out of nowhere, they realized that the treasure was neither gold nor diamonds, but communication and friendship among people all over the world!!

* It’s the motto of our Comenius project