It was a bright Monday morning, the first day of summer vacation. The sun shone brightly in the sky and the breeze blew gently. The weather was as perfect as anyone could possibly dream of. This was a contrast to the rainy weather which we usually had.

Lucy and Emily, two sisters, stood outside in the blue uniform of the Eagle Club. They were twins and identical; it was almost impossible to spot any difference. The only way that they could be told apart that day was that Lucy had her hair tied in a ponytail while Emily had tied hers in a bun. Apart from that, the girls wore identical clothes, shoes and even carried identical backpacks, not to mention that their facial features were the same.

The girls carried small bags, also identical, for both the bags were a bright, sparkly green colour and had a yellow pineapple painted on them.

The girls stood there, carrying their lunch and small pouches to collect the beautiful mist that was always there at the peak of the Misty Hills. All their 20 comrades were assembled along with their teacher, Miss Evergreen. They all wore cheerful smiles as bright as the sun shining high up in the sky.

Miss Evergreen took out 22 maps for the children to follow to the Misty Hills and handed them out.

“This is where we will be going today children,” Miss Evergreen said, and she led the way as the children talked excitedly. After walking for around five miles, the Eagle Club came to a turning. They had to choose between going right or going left. The right side was plain, and the left side had all kinds of trees and flowers growing along the path. Miss Evergreen, looking at the map, began to take the right turning.

“Uh miss? The right path is leading to a cave. The path to the Misty Hills is across a river. I can see some water on the left side which looks like a river. I think that is the path,” Emily said.

“No, I am following the map, according to which we must take the right path. Just follow me onto the right turning. The river across which The Misty Hills may be through the cave,” replied Miss Evergreen in a confident voice.

Miss Evergreen was the type of person who thought that there could never be an error in a book or a map that they were supposed to follow, and so she always followed the map without thinking herself.

Soon, the group reached the cave. They went inside and, unfortunately, a huge boulder rolled behind them. They were trapped. A few students began to panic, but Miss Evergreen calmed them.

“It is okay. There should be an opening ahead leading to a river,” she told them. Reassured, the group continued until they reached the end of the cave; a dead end.

There they so a female explorer, examining the material of the cave with a large, magnifying glass. The explorer turned around on hearing us.

“Hello! Lost, are you? Where were you planning to go?” the explorer asked in a friendly voice. It seemed as though she was used to lost people coming there and asking for directions.

Miss Evergreen explained to the explorer about our trip to the Misty Hills and how a boulder had blocked the entrance of the cave through which we had come.

The explorer frowned. She then glanced at the map in Emily’s hand, which we had been following, and she said, “Your map is wrong. You had to take the left path, as the Misty Hills are across the river from there.”

“That is what I said!” Emily exclaimed.

“You were right. Miss Evergreen, your map is inaccurate. It is quite late, but you can go back the way you came. The boulder will not be too hard to move,” replied the explorer and continued her work.

The explorer was right. When our whole group pushed, the boulder easily moved. Nevertheless, we could not visit the Misty Hills that day due to the wrong map. We just made it back home in time.

Miss Evergreen apologised for her error in the map. She promised us that we would visit The Misty Hills on our next trip. We had all learnt to trust our instincts that day, even Miss Evergreen, because even maps have errors sometimes.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 25th, 2023