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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Illustrate the meaning of "Every Dark Cloud has a Silver Lining" (without using the actual phrase or literal example). (02/28/08)
“From every situation, something good always comes,” my Grandma once told me. “But sometimes it is like a hidden treasure, you might have to dig around a bit to find it. Don’t get discouraged though Peter, it will always be there for you to find.”

I liked what my Grandma said and decided to find that treasure in every situation. Sometimes it was a lot easier to find, I would just have to brush the dirt away to see it. But other times it was a lot harder to find. It would be hidden under many feet of dirt, in one of the most obscure places, and in one of the last places I would look to find it. But, like my Grandma said, it was always there for me to find.

I loved when a new situation came around. It was always like a new scavenger hunt, or treasure hunt. I would look at the clues, and then go find the treasure. It gave me a wonderful feeling whenever I would find the treasure. I wanted to share it with everybody, so I did. The friends I shared it with loved the treasure, and shared it with their friends too.

The treasure seemed to make every situation brighter then it was. A light, sometimes dimmer than others, but it always made the room it was in brighter.

I always shared every treasure hunt with my five year old sister. We spent many days, going on treasure hunts. Those were some of the best times we ever had together. It seemed like not one day went past that we didn’t put a light in a dark room, or make a bright room brighter with the treasure we found.

But one day, I could no longer go on treasure hunts with my sister. She had fallen ill, and lay in a hospital bed all day long. My family and I sat with her and talked with her. Finally one day even talking became too much for my sister to handle. We would just sit with her, knowing she liked our company. But then, she was gone. She just slipped away. It was hard for me to accept, and is still hard for me, today even after 35 years. I was just a boy when it happened; my best friend had been taken away from me.

After about a week, my Grandmother's words came back to me. “From every situation, something good comes.” I needed to find something good in this situation. I needed a light in this pitch black room. So I started digging for the treasure, looking deep to find it.

After a week of constant digging, I went to my Grandma. “I don’t think I will ever find the treasure in this treasure hunt,” I told her.

She looked at me for a long time. “Are you sure Peter? Are you sure there is no treasure to find?”

I nodded and showed her everywhere I had looked. “I don’t know where else the treasure could possibly be.”

“Have you tried looking on her side of the situation?” She asked me with a glow in her face.
“No, I haven’t looked there. But she isn’t even here...”

My Grandmother cut me off. “You started looking on her side, and by barely brushing away the dirt, you found the treasure.”

I thought again about what I had said. She isn’t even here. “Heaven.” I whispered.

I took a step back and looked at this situation from a whole different angle. I could almost see my sister's brown curls just beyond the golden gates of Heaven.

The pitch black room became blindingly bright. I felt so much joy and happiness I thought I would burst if I didn’t tell someone about this treasure.

But I stopped first. Grandma was right. I could almost hear her voice saying it in just the same way she had said it the first time, “From every situation, something good always comes.”
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
03/08/08
What a wise grandmother you had!

The metaphor of a treasure hunt works well for this week. You may have mentioned it a few times too many, though--think about using synonyms, or different phrases, or inferences, so that there is greater variety in your middle section.

I'm so glad that you were able to find the treasure in this sad situation.

Shirley McClay
03/11/08
Yes.. my grandma taught me something similar and it has helped me through my life. Nice job with the story!
Bill Obenauer
03/11/08
This was a very well-written and touching piece. FYI- there was one part where it seemed as if quotes from the grandmother and grandson were not separated into different paragraphs, but that's an easy miss seeing as how most of us have to reformat our stories to post them. Great job!
Yvonne Blake 
03/11/08
What a wise grandmother! I wondered what the earlier "treasures" were. You were a bit vague about them.
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God."