Fiction:

Treasure

By Rhonda Petty

Donna’s red curls bounced as she skipped home from school. Mrs. Richards had just read the class a story about pirates who buried chests full of treasure. Some of the buried treasures had never been found, and Donna was thinking how wonderful it would be to discover one of them. Her family was going to Grandma’s house for dinner that night, and she could hardly wait to tell Grandma the story. She often talked about the olden days; now it would be Donna’s turn.

When they arrived at Grandma’s house, Donna ran straight to the kitchen. “Grandma! Grandma!” she squealed. “We learned about buried treasure today. My teacher says there are still treasures hidden away. Maybe when I get older, I can find one.”

Grandma smiled. “What kind of treasure would you like to find?”

Donna thought for a minute. “Gold and diamonds.”

Grandma nodded with a twinkle in her eye. “That certainly would be wonderful. Maybe after dinner we could pretend to be pirates and look for buried treasure right here.”

Donna clapped her hands. “Oh, Grandma, could we? I’ll help you clean up after dinner.”

When the dishes were washed and put away, Grandma took Donna aside and whispered in her ear. “When I was a little girl, I, too, dreamed of finding a treasure. I used to search in the attic. Shall we see if there’s any treasure up there?”

Donna could hardly control her excitement. “Yes! Yes!”

They had to climb some narrow steps to get into the dark attic. Donna held Grandma’s hand very tightly. She was a little afraid, but she didn’t want Grandma to know. When they reached the top of the stairs and Grandma turned on the light, Donna was disappointed. All she saw were some dusty boxes, a few cobwebs, and a big trunk that didn’t look anything like a pirate chest. How could they ever find treasure in this junk?

Donna carefully opened one of the boxes. Inside were some old toys. She took out a doll with bright blue eyes and a pink dress. “Who did this belong to?” she asked, admiring the doll.

“Your mother. It was her favorite, and she used to play with it every day. She called it Donna, and she always said that when she had a little girl, she would name her Donna, too.”

Donna smiled, trying to imagine her mom playing with the doll. It made her happy to know that her mom had always wanted a little girl.

Grandma had opened another box and was looking at a large picture in a beautiful wood frame. Standing in the picture was a red-haired girl about Donna’s age. Donna examined the picture carefully. She had seen this girl before, but where?

“Who is she?” Donna asked.

“Well, goodness,” said Grandma, “that picture does look familiar.” She searched and found a dusty mirror, cleaned it off, and handed it to Donna. “Look,” she said, “and tell me what you see.”

As Donna looked in the mirror, her eyes got bigger. They were the same big brown eyes she had seen in the picture, under the same red curls. The two faces were the same!

“That’s me in the picture, Grandma! Why can’t I remember when it was taken?”

Grandma laughed. “Because that isn’t you in the picture, dear. It’s your mother. We had that picture taken when she was just about your age.”

Donna was amazed. She had had no idea that she looked so much like her mom.

Grandma’s eyes were gleaming as she opened the big trunk. “Donna,” she said, “come see what I’ve found!” On top of the pile was the dress Donna’s mom had worn in the picture. It was white with purple flowers and white ruffles.

“Can I try it on, Grandma?” Donna pleaded. “I’ll be very careful; I promise.” After Grandma had helped her put on the dress, Donna looked in the mirror again and giggled. Now she looked exactly like Mom. They were finding some wonderful treasures, even though not of diamonds or gold.

Grandma reached into the trunk again and pulled out another picture. This time it was a small picture of a beautiful building.

“I know what that is!” Donna exclaimed. “It’s the Salt Lake Temple.”

“Yes,” Grandma said. “This picture is very special to me. When I was a little girl, my Primary teacher gave one to each of us after a lesson about the temple. She told us how wonderful it was to go to the temple and be sealed together as a family.

“She said that we could also do work for people who had died without a chance to hear about the gospel. Then she explained that in order to enter the temple, we had to go to church, pay our tithing, obey the Word of Wisdom, and keep the other commandments.

“I was so proud of my beautiful picture that I took it home and hung it right above my bed. Every night before I said my prayers, I looked at the picture, then asked Heavenly Father to help me prepare to go there. I wanted to go to the temple more than anything else. I wanted to help people like my great-grandmother, who didn’t know about the gospel. And I wanted to be married there to a good man.

“The day I went to the temple with your grandpa to be married for eternity was the most beautiful day of my life. When I see our family together, it makes me happy that we have made the right choices. We still need to keep working to be good, but it’s all worth it, knowing that we can be together forever.”

Donna smiled. “I guess we really did find a treasure today.”

Grandma hugged her. “Donna, I want you to have this picture of the temple to help you remember the treasures you will find there.”

Donna gave Grandma a big kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Grandma. You’re the best treasure finder in the whole world!”

Illustrated by Dick Brown