The Shawl of Invisibility

Creak! The sound of footsteps echoed through the attic.The frantic rustling that Taylor and her friends made on the wood could be heard no matter where you were in the room. The dusty box room had cobwebs in every nook. The daylight entering the room from a tiny window made the shadow of the dark attic’s stacked boxes feel like monsters lurking in every corner. Nervous thoughts were like a whirlwind in everyone’s head until something interrupted those thoughts. 

“Okay. I have had just about enough!” Chloe said, switching on a light. “We are just breaking one rule okay? It’s not like we have to tiptoe in the attic as if we are solving some mystery!”

“But it makes it more fun!”John, another friend, whispered. “It feels like we are on an adventure.” “Oh, who cares? We just came up here to relieve our boredom!”Chloe exclaimed, her harsh tone opposing her soft black curls and gentle green eyes. 

“Okay, all of you, CALM DOWN!”, Taylor said, with unnecessary dramatic hand gestures.”Chloe’s right, we are just breaking one rule by coming up here,into the attic, but John’s right too, we are here for an adventure, we can make it feel like one.“ 

Chloe,Taylor,James and John had sat for one month, watching the same TV shows, reading the same books and playing the same games. They were bored, they wanted an adventure. After a week of planning,the adventurous group of 11 year olds decided to sneak up into the attic, the day Taylor’s parents were not in the house. Taylor, as a rule, was not allowed in the attic, but if it meant breaking a rule to break their boredom, the friend group was more than willing to be caught up there.

“Taylor’s right. We shouldn’t argue, at least we’re doing something!” James said, in his clear British accent, his warm brown eyes looking at Taylor breaking her train of thought. “Why don’t we look in the boxes,and see what mysteries they hold.” James continued, in his poetic way.

”Sick!”John yelled, receiving glares from Chloe and Taylor. “Shush, you chatterbox, you know we don’t know when my parents are coming back home, so shut your blabbering!”Taylor hissed, unusually annoyed. She kneeled down, opening the first box, her frizzy,messy, blonde hair, a curtain to hide her irritated expression. She removed a top hat, tuxedo and long white gown, a veil trailing behind the silk.

 Chloe bent down next to her running her finger along 9/7/1960, the date engraved on the box as she read it out. Taylor’s annoyed face almost immediately lit up. She threw her head back and started giggling. “Oh, that’s my Grandma and Grandpapa’s wedding day. This box is totally useless.” She laughed, shoving it aside. John and James bent down next to the two laughing girls. 

Simultaneously, the both picked up a blue chest, bordered with smooth cut ambers. James opened it and gasped. The friends looked down at the opened chest and gasped too. A lavender silk shawl embroidered with golden and spiral patterns greeted them. Taylor lifted it up, inspecting it. As she did so, a folded piece of paper, that was so old, it was like parchment fell out of the shawl. John dived for it, landing on his chest as he caught it. “Well that was dramatically caught.” Chloe remarked. “Hey, you can tell that it’s delicate, it’s so old it would have crumbled into dust if I didn’t catch it.” John responded. “Oooh, is someone being smart?” Taylor laughed. 

The group had this running joke that John was only smart if it had to do with mystery. John grinned. He was quite a sport when it came to taking jokes against himself. “You do the honours John! Open the note!” Taylor exclaimed, smiling while gesturing towards the folded piece of paper held tightly between John’s fingers.John grinned again. 

He opened up the note carefully, his nimble fingers delicately opening it from fourths, to halves until the ink on the paper was fully visible.He held up the note to the others after reading it himself. Written in blue ink calligraphy, the paper read: 

Rules of visibility are denied,

While laws of sneaking are applied,

For whatever use you decide,

This shawl belonged to  1960's bride.

Taylor shook her head, coming out of the daze she was in while reading the note. She took the note from John and brought out the pad of paper she carried with her and grabbed the pen and highlighter from Chloe’s hand. She scribbled the riddle down on another piece of paper and highlighted keywords in the note such as, visibility, sneaking, shawl, use, 1960’s bride. After 2 minutes of thinking, she looked up from the page of her frantic writing and cleared her throat. “I’ve noticed that  all these words have a connection.” Pointing at the words visibility, denied and sneaking, Taylor continued, “ The bride of 1960 must be my Grandma and it’s like the notes trying to say that this shawl is like a shawl of invisibility.” The four musketeers lifted their heads, curiosity filling their eyes. What could be done with a shawl like that? Were such things possible? And if it was, what secrets could they discover with it in their hands?