An Unusual Object

“Jake, get off that phone of yours and play with your brother outside!” Father ordered as he carried a pile of folded laundry. I groaned as I switched off my phone, trudging to the backyard where my brother was frolicking in the grass. “What a way to spend the start of the school holidays,” I grumbled.

Spotting my arrival, my little brother John ran up to me exclaiming, “ Let's play tag!” With nothing else to do, I nodded in agreement. As I could run much faster than my brother, I tagged him easily over and over again. Soon, I grew bored of this game.

Surveying my surroundings in search of a new game, my mind drew a blank. Sighing, I wondered how my brother could have fun by just jumping around in nature. Leaning back on the apple tree—the one my great-grandfather had planted—I grumpily furrowed my brows and gave the tree a hard kick. To my absolute surprise, the impact knocked aside a pile of dried leaves near the base of the trunk, revealing a hollow I had never noticed before. Curiosity piqued, I pushed away the leaves. John made a beeline towards the tree as well to see what lay within the hollow. I reached in, and to my surprise, managed to pull out a box. Blowing the dust off the ancient-looking box, I pried the box open. In it lay what seemed like medals from the past. Unable to resist my curiosity, I lifted the box up and carried it to my father. John, also brimming with excitement, followed closely behind.

“Dad, what's this?” I asked, showing him the extremely noteworthy medals. He ran his fingers along the words engraved on the silver medals. Smiling at our discovery, he replied, “This is our family heirloom—your great-grandfather's medals from World War 2.” Lifting a medal up, he then gave us a detailed description of our great grandfather's life as a World War 2 veteran. He explained how our great grandfather’s brave battle to defend our country was appreciated, and how he went on to receive many medals for his bravery.

After his hearty explanation, my father quipped, “See? This is why you should go out more often. You never know what you may discover!” Nodding, I gave my great-grandfather a prayer of thanks for trying his best to protect our country. I felt extremely proud to find our family’s heirloom, the World War 2 medals. Additionally, I also decided to spend more time outside. Like my father said, maybe I would stumble upon more unusual treasures!