The next morning, Lena and Max got up early, the yellowed map firmly in hand. The mysterious place was somewhere on a coast that could not be found on any of their usual travel maps. “Well, this is really somewhere between nowhere and adventure,” Max murmured as he carefully folded the map.
“Well then, let’s go!” said Lena with a broad grin. “Backpack on and off to the coast.”
They had no idea yet how to get there, but that was the exciting part. After a brief search, they found a bus that would at least take them close. The ride was long, the roads grew narrower and the landscape rougher. Finally, the bus stopped at a tiny place that was barely more than a few houses and a small pier.
“This is supposed to be it?” Max asked skeptically, looking out the window. The sea sparkled in the sun, and seagulls circled loudly screaming over the old boats. “Looks like something out of a picture book, but somehow also deserted.”
“Just my thing,” Lena replied. “Let’s explore the place.”
They strolled along the small main street, past a tiny shop that looked more like a corner store, and finally stopped in front of a small hut at the harbor. An old man with a weather-beaten face sat on a bench, mending a net.
“Excuse me, can we ask you something?” Lena began cautiously.
The old man looked up, his blue eyes sparkling behind thick horn-rimmed glasses. “Sure, young folks. What brings you here?”
Max showed him the map. “We’re looking for this place here. Somewhat mysterious, you know? Do you know if this place is known?”
The fisherman smiled faintly and nodded. “Ah, the map… I know it well. It leads to a small village that used to be here. Today it’s almost forgotten, swallowed by time.”
“What happened?” Lena asked curiously.
The man sighed deeply. “Many years ago, there was a fishing community here. They lived simply and contentedly until one day a storm came, so fierce it destroyed almost everything. Many left, and the place was abandoned. Only a few stayed behind, preserving the stories and secrets.”
Max frowned. “Stories? Secrets?”
“Yes,” said the fisherman, leaning forward. “It is said that an old chest is buried there on the beach. It is supposed to contain things no one understands – maps, letters, maybe even something valuable. But no one has ever found it.”
Lena looked at Max. “Well, that sounds like an adventure! Maybe we’ll find that chest.”
The fisherman laughed softly. “Be careful, kids. Sometimes some secrets are better left hidden.”
As the sun slowly set, Lena and Max said goodbye and found a small guesthouse nearby. The night was quiet, accompanied only by the sound of the sea and the cries of the seagulls.
The next morning they woke early, ready to explore the coast further. But when Lena opened her backpack, her breath caught. The yellowed map they had so carefully kept was gone.
“Max, the map is gone!” she whispered in panic.
Max’s eyes widened and he looked around the room frantically. “What? How can that be? I packed it just yesterday!”
They searched everywhere, rummaging through their things, but the map was as if swallowed by the earth.
“That can’t be a coincidence,” Lena murmured, looking out the window where the first fishing boats were already heading back out to sea. “Something’s not right here.”
Suddenly they heard footsteps in the hallway outside – slow, quiet, but deliberate. They looked at each other, hearts beating faster. “Who the hell is that?” Max asked.