The magic key

Martin was now of the right age that for his birthday that year his father gave him a book without any pictures in it! Martin’s father noticed child’s disappointment, and told him, “Son, this isn’t just any old book, it’s a magic book. But to discover its magic you’ll have to read it.”

Well, that was better; Martin liked everything that had to do with magic. He started reading the book, although he wasn’t overly enthusiastic. The next morning, his father asked him, “Have you found the magic key?”

Ah, so there was a key to find! Martin ran off and flipped the pages of the book through, but there was no sign of the key. He returned to his father, very annoyed.

His father warned him, “You won’t find it like that. You have to read the book.”

Martin didn’t have much patience, and he soon stopped reading the book, thinking his father was only trying to trick him into reading a bit more, just as Martin’s teacher had suggested to his dad. A little later, his sister, Angela, who was just a bit younger than him, asked Martin for the book so she could also read it.

After several days of trying to read it without great success, Angela ran out into the lounge, happily screaming, “I’ve found it! I’ve found the key of the magic book!” And she would not stop talking about all the worlds and places she had visited using that magic key.

Angela’s jubilation convinced Martin to resume reading the book. At first it was hard; there wasn’t even one miserable picture in the book to sustain his interest to read it. But, gradually, the story started coming to life, and Martin got interested in the adventurous Prince’s life. Then, suddenly, he was there.

The book itself was the key!

It was true that whenever he opened it, he felt transported to the valleys and seas in the story, and he lived the adventures of its pirates, Princes, and wizards, as though they were all himself. And his head and his dreams filled with adventures whenever he got a chance.

But the best thing about the story was that from then on, in every new book, Martin saw a new key to a thousand worlds and adventures. He had since never stopped travelling and travelling on those letters and words. (www.freestoriesforkids.com)