Mindy and her friends were sitting under the magnificent summer sun, chatting and sharing stories. They had met after five years because Mindy had moved with her parents to a new city. Mindy did not like her new school at first, because she missed her old friends dearly. However, after some time, she eventually got used to it.

Now that they had finally met after so many years, they had so many funny stories to share! Mindy’s friend Jaz talked about her grand birthday bash. Her parents had surprised her that day with a pink and black themed party, inviting all her friends at school and in the neighbourhood.

“I had no idea!” Jaz exclaimed. “I was so shocked that it literally took me 10 minutes to absorb what had happened. They’d sent me off shopping with my grandparents and I actually thought of it as my birthday treat.”

All her friends laughed and asked her how the day went. When it was Ashley’s turn, she shared the story of how her pet dog vanished.

“It was a tragic day for me. I had returned home from school. Penny waited for me at the gate every single day. And the moment I saw her not sitting at the gate, I knew something was wrong. I dropped my bag on the ground and started calling out to her. I searched everywhere!

“The gatekeeper suggested we wait for some time in case Penny had accidentally gone out. He claimed that dogs know their way back so, if that had happened, Panny would surely come back. Sadly, that did not happen. We reported this to the police, and set up posters about her being missing. After no luck, I was sure someone had stolen and locked her up. I cried a lot for a month so my parents got me a cat the next month, but I still miss her so much!”

Her friends started sympathising with her and consoling her. It was truly a sad story. Suddenly, Ashley noticed a scar on Mindy’s foot.

“Mindy,” she began. “What’s that scar on your foot? Oh, that seems like a story! Tell us about it.”

Mindy laughed saying it was nothing. Her friends, however, kept on insisting she share it.

“Okay! Fine!” she gave in. “So, this probably happened two years ago. My sister and I were playing hide and seek with dad. Mum had gone out for grocery shopping that evening. Lizzy suggested we look for a new place in the backyard so that dad wouldn’t be able to find us and he would give up.

“After spending a lot of time thinking, we finally found a spot. There was a small area next to the old shed. The shed is rarely used so we barely went close to it. Lizzy pushed me into that small area, and ran off to find herself a spot since dad’s counting was almost over. As I tumbled backwards after her gentle push, my foot caught onto something and I tripped and fell over some metal.”

“Ouch,” said Jaz. “Sounds painful.”

“Haha… yes! But not painful after what came next! So, I scurried to the back, trying to hold back my tears. My dad found Lizzy first but after 10 minutes of searching, he gave up and Lizzy came to help me out. When she saw my eyes, all teary and swollen, she worriedly asked about what had happened. I narrated it to her and she kept apologising to me.”

“What about that metal thing?” asked Ashley.

“Hold your horses!” laughed Mindy.

“So, after dad and Lizzy calmed me down, we thought of clearing away whatever metal object was there so it wouldn’t hurt anyone else. We removed the pile of leaves that had gathered over it. And we gasped! It was a small door! And the latch was slightly opened, where I had caught my foot, hence this scar.

“So, we opened the door and guess what! It was an entirely new, tiny world down there! Almost like an underground cave. There was a small sofa, a fireplace, a small stove, lamps and even a hammock. It seemed like a perfect hiding place. The walls were covered with chalk, and photographs of different animals hung all over the place. It was so amazing!

“But there was a lot of dust and cobwebs, as if it had not been used for some time. The people who lived in the house before us probably made this secret basement and it seems no one else knew about it until we found it.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Mindy’s friends. “Your scar actually turned out to be pretty lucky for you. We must see this secret room!”

Mindy laughed and took her friends to her house to show them the secret room. She had redecorated the place according to her own taste, and would come there to study, read or just for some cosy time alone!

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 28th, 2022