"Psst! Eddy, over here!"
Eddy spun around, his sneakers kicking up autumn leaves. Anna was crouched behind a mossy rock, her eyes wide with excitement. "I found it," she whispered. "The Wishing Tree!"
Eddy’s heart pounded. The tree was real? He’d heard the stories—how deep in Whispering Hollow, an ancient oak granted wishes… but only if you told it your deepest secret.
“Eddy, look out!” shouted Anna, but it was too late.
With a loud crack , Eddy’s skateboard hit the edge of the curb and flipped beneath him. He tumbled onto the sidewalk with a thud, scraping his elbow and sending his favorite green skateboard skidding into the gutter.
The summer had barely begun, and already things weren’t going as planned.
“Did you hear that?” Anna whispered, her flashlight shaking so hard it looked like it was trying to do the cha-cha.
Eddy squinted up the attic stairs. “Hear what?”
A long, slow creak echoed from above—like someone stepping on a giant peanut.
“Look!” Eddy whispered, pointing toward the water. “It wasn’t there yesterday.”
Anna squinted at the strange wooden raft tied to the dock behind her grandmother’s cottage. It was old and worn, covered in moss and sea vines, but something about it shimmered faintly in the morning sun.
Lily X tugged at one of the ropes. “This thing looks like it came from a pirate movie!”
"Did you see it?!" Eddy whispered, his eyes wide as moons. Anna tugged her scarf tighter around her neck and squinted at the empty lantern post in front of the village bakery. "Nope. Not again." Every night, just after midnight, the glowing dragon lantern lit up the sleepy village of Tanjung Tokong like a firefly wrapped in silk. But every morning, it vanished without a trace. And no one could...
“Wait! Come back with my tricycle!” Eddy shouted, sprinting down the sidewalk after a glowing green blur. The tricycle zipped through the air like it had wings—because, well, it kind of did. It had rocket boosters, holographic handlebars, and a time-dial that spun faster than a merry-go-round on caffeine. And now, it was gone—stolen by something that looked like a talking marshmallow with antenna...
"Can you hear that?" whispered Eddy, clutching the edge of a crinkly, glowing piece of parchment.
Anna squinted at him from under her sunhat. "Hear what?"
Eddy didn’t answer right away. He pressed his ear to the map and gasped. A soft hum filled the air—like wind through bamboo flutes.
“It’s… singing,” he said.
“Eddy, look!” shouted Anna, pointing at the sky. “It’s… gray!”
Eddy squinted up from his breakfast toast and blinked in surprise. The sky was indeed a dull shade of misty gray—not stormy or cloudy, just... empty.
Then they heard Lily X scream from outside. “My flowers! They’re all white!”
"Zap!" Eddy jumped back as a spark flew from the tangled mess of wires in his hands. "That was close," he said, brushing soot off his overalls. His workshop—a cozy shed behind his house filled with blinking gadgets and humming machines—was buzzing with excitement.
"I think it's working!" said Anna, peering over his shoulder. She was Eddy’s best friend and always helped him test his wildest ideas.
Once upon a time, in the sleepy seaside town of Penang, there lived a curious 12-year-old named Eddy. He had wild chestnut hair that never quite stayed brushed, a pair of mismatched socks (on purpose), and a head full of dreams about places he’d never seen. Eddy loved adventure stories—tales of daring pirates, brave explorers, and magical lands hidden just beyond the horizon. But real adventures...
