14

Once upon a time, in a remote coastal area of Wales, there stood a wonderful forest. A very old one, as local people would say, home and a source of life for many animal species there. But just as dark clouds sometimes overcast the clear skies, an ominous dark cloud threatened to cast a shadow on these woods.
  
   It was spring time. A small group of scouts came along to the borders of the woods and set up their tent. There was David who was twelve and his younger sister Fiona, together with a bear named Pear, a squirrel Jumpy and a hare called Roy. A true fellowship of the forest. It happened that Pear, Jumpy and Roy overheard animals whispering a story about what was going on in the woods. During nights, strange sounds and shaking of the ground were breaking the silence and scared every living being around. David and Fiona quickly decided to find out what was happening. Everyone put on a mask as a disguise to scare the enemy, whoever or whatever it was. Pear carried a spyglass and so they set off into the depths of the woods. They were walking the whole day and the it was getting really dark when they came to a barren hilltop, full of stumps and cut trees with excavators crushing around and digging the ground.  Pear spotted a fox carrying her bag in the distance. She was in tears, having lost her beloved home in the forest. "It's the Loony Moon“, said the tearful fox. „He is the true villain of our forest and he won't stop digging and cutting trees unless someone helps us here. He lives in a strange cottage a couple of miles down this path. „It was dark, but the scouts were bold and brave. Not hesitating for a moment, they set off and after a while they came up to his cottage. The villain was at home, working in darkness, going through letters and trying to figure out something. He was an evil, greedy engineer and a thief above all. He would steal letters from people's mailboxes, or even books or toys. The fellowship managed to silently sneak into his house and scare him completely. Loony Moon was petrified and ran away through the window. On his desk were piles of stolen letters and a dusty, old photo album with a name on it." Look! „, said Fiona, „He stole this photo album! “„Let's find the owner and give this back to him! ", said David. They all agreed. It belonged to Mr. Morgan, an old man from a nearby town who happened to be a retired deputy. Mr. Morgan was so happy to have the photo album back after such a long time. Having explained him how and where they had recovered it, he went through the pages and remembering his happy childhood days said: „I used to know Loony Moon. We were neighbours as kids. Unfortunately, he didn't have a happy childhood and instead of trying to spend his days making other people happy, he became evil and made other people's lives miserable." Mr. Morgan continued his story:" I have heard that he became obsessed with toys, airplanes and rockets. You see, he never had any toys to play with as a child. I am a retired local deputy and I will inform the authorities about him. Don't worry."   " Great! ", said the hare Roy. Mr. Morgan was pondering over a certain picture. Something crossed his mind and he said: " Loony Moon could be after a chest of toys that I buried somewhere in the woods a long time ago. I have the map, but I have to find it in my basement. He somehow knows about the chest's past and wants to dig it out. From the stolen letters, I guess."
   The next morning, the hidden treasure map was on Mr. Morgan's desk while he was drinking coffee. „There you have it" said Mr. Morgan to David. "The chest is buried exactly in that cut tree area. Loony Moon was desperately trying to get it."
  
   In the following days, the locals decided to expel the villain from the area. His plans failed completely. No more airplanes, no rocket bases, no gold from the chest. It was all gone. The good news spread quickly. Our forest was filled with shouts of joy and happiness. The poor homeless fox can return home again, children can wander through the woods again. Lo and the others, as darkness left the woods and everything started growing again.                                                                                                                                               The quest for that chest started the next day. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The spot on which the chest had been buried was easily found. It was full of airplanes and rockets that Loony Moon craved for. The forest was saved, the villain defeated, and the toys recovered. Goodness will always prevail!