The Gold Ball That Changed Mathew’s Life
 
by Adam L
 4th grade
Highland Park Elementary School

One day in Temperance State Park a kid lost his way in the forest. He wondered until he had to stop and rest. His name was Mathew and he was determined to change the world. So he went to bed in the middle of the night. He heard a rustling sound and saw someone or something running in the bushes. He did not know what to do. So he got out his wrist-rocket, which is a high tech sling shot, and shot at the person. It did not hit him. So he decided to run toward the person in the darkness. Ten minutes later he stopped by a curtain of leaves. He pushed the curtain open. He saw a huge fire and INDIANS. The chief saw him. He ordered his Indians to chase Mathew until they caught him. Mathew ran as hard as he could. Through the trees he ran as long as one hour until he reached safety. Three weeks later Mathew found out he was wanted by the Indians.
 
One day he went out for a walk in the woods. He found two kids lost as well. Both had long black hair.  Mathew called to them. They ran as fast as they could. They both were 12 like him. Mathew made a small lean-to. He made it with small logs. The next day Mathew awoke. In his backpack he looked for all his things. He had a medium sized gold ball. It was 2 inches wide. He also had a wrist-rocket and blanket.
 
One day Mathew was walking near the Indian camp with the two others. When they turned to go back two big Indians stood with spears. They grabbed them and brought them to the chief. The chief was not amused. Then he called for the cage. Mathew did not like it in the cage. People gathered around and stared at him. Mathew was sold for $100 as a slave to someone.
 
After two days Mathew remembered his gold ball. One day he ran to the chief and gave the gold ball to the chief. The chief was pleased. He was so pleased he let Mathew go and gave him a buckskin jacket and a bag of coins. The last week he stayed there he bought a bow and arrow, a spear, a sword, a shield, and the last two things he got were gun powder to explode things and two loaves of bread. To get money back he stole from the people he bought things from.
 
So he traveled south on horseback. He was starving because he had eaten all the bread. Soon he got to the Mississippi where he camped out for the night. Then he road for a while. Then he reached more Indians. He bought 6 loaves of bread and a barrel of carrots for the horse.
 
Then he rode for a whole month until he got to the Dakota Indians. They treated him like a king. They told him about legends. The one that was the most satisfying was the legend of the gold. Every year a new gold ball appeared. Over 1,000 years there must be a million gold balls.
 
So a dozen Indians (not including him) looked for at least 5 months for the golden balls. One day they came across the sacred cave of gold balls. When they came closer in two Indians jumped out. They had a bow and arrow each. They were the Indians who caught Mathew the first time. He readied his shield and sword in the battle of his life. He had to do it. With one swing of his trusty sword they fell. Mathew still had his sword and shield in his hand when he entered the cave. There was a glow at the end of the cave. He ran to the glow. He saw hundreds of gold balls. It took a whole day to count the balls. There were 999. Then he remembered the gold ball he had given to the chief. That’s why he was so pleased he whispered.
 
The next day Mathew set off with 6 other Indians. He was ready to find the gold ball. They snuck behind the chiefs high-rise chair. They crept to the money pouch . They found the gold ball at the bottom of the sack . When they crept back one of the chiefs Indians spotted him. Mathew and his Indians ran away with the gold ball and got away.
 
Eventually Mathew became chief of the Dakota Indians.