Unfolded by Katia B

UNFOLDED

It was finally Saturday and Jade sat contentedly in the corner of her absolute favourite coffee shop on main street. ‘The Exquisite Edibles’ as it was called contained the most delectable and spectacular, eye-catching foods in the entire state. It was a comfortable environment and allowed Jade to escape her harsh life of almost slavery being an adopted child in a large family of 10.

Jade wore all hand-me-downs, a pink patterned overcoat, torn white skinny jeans and her favourite teal shirt, the only thing (other than a photograph) that she had left of her parents. Her snowy white ringlets bounced willingly on her shoulders and her sapphire eyes shone brilliantly in the sunlight, Jade had a stunning smile and everyone envied her amazing beauty. She was also very talented and incredibly smart, she had everything a 12 year old girl could ever want except friends and a family that actually cared about her and to Jade this was the biggest thing of all.

More than anything Jade had an extremely reckless nature and despite her innocent and mesmerizing looks, was always yearning for a breath-taking adventure. As she devoured the delightful food in front of her, her thoughts drifted of to her next thrilling journey, she didn’t know exactly what it would be but she guaranteed it would be pretty extreme, she just knew it, and maybe, just maybe she might find her parents (but  of course that was very unlikely). Rain began to fall and Jade remembered that she had too many jobs to do back at home that would stop her from taking another adventure for weeks.

The rain continued to pour down and Jade wondered if she would ever see her parents again, they had left her without explanation and now Jade was more eager than ever to out why her parents had left. Just at the moment the café door swung open and Jade raised her head to see a dark, hooded figure, he rushed towards her table and placed an ancient looking parcel on its oak surface, muttered the words “Please Help!” and then ran. Jade stared at the package but as the door slammed shut she looked up just in time to catch just a glimpse of the man’s sparkling blue eyes and thin lips curled into a frown. Jade's attention was drawn back to the package, it’s yellowed paper wrapped carefully around a rectangular object and tied neatly with a crimson bow. Jade realised this may be her extreme adventure, her chance to find her parents and maybe even escape her horrid foster parents.

Curious citizens crowded Jade and stared at the square package. The butterscotch yellow wrapping encased tightly a large, cuboid object. Jade looked at the impeccable wrapping and was reminded of her own perfectionist ways, and the man’s blue eyes shining like her own, could this be a clue? She had to find out.

Her black, ruined shoes filled with water as she walked down the saturated pathways on the busy New York street. Jade replayed the bizarre occurrence at The Exquisite Edibles over and over in her mind and finally decided that if she was going to solve this mystery she had to open the package. Her fingers fumbled over the crimson ribbon and as the package unfolded Jade began to have second thoughts about her decision, ‘No,’ she thought, ‘this is my only chance!’ Jade lifted out the object and was filled with surprise as she noticed it was the same photograph as she had in her room at home. She flipped over the picture and noticed a small note sticking out of the frame, she took it out and read it, it said: 36 Greenwood Lane. HELP! ‘That was it!?’ Jade thought, she just had to find out what it really meant.

Jade ran down Greenwood Lane frantically searching the letterboxes to find the number 36. Yes, there it was an ebony, run down shed, not exactly what she was expecting but she entered anyway. The door creaked open and Jade saw them, “Finally!” she gasped but just as she thought this could be her happily ever after, a shadowy figure stepped out from the fog, sweat beaded Jade’s forehead and she realised with concern, this was going to be far from easy. She groaned and backed against the door and finally a plan formed in her head but then, BANG! Everything went black.