APOLOGY:
Originally each chapter in this story linked to a website featuring the clue of
the chapter, resulting in a Peace Game Show bringing visitors on a fun and safe
romp through the Internet which you would have enjoyed. Unfortunately, after all
these years with no funding, I've now had to let go of most of my websites, so
those links are no longer operational and are no longer associated with this website.
I apologize for the incovenience and any misunderstanding, but hope you enjoy
this story anyway. (bob)
Chapter
1. Peace Treasure Hunt
The
PeaceKids had been getting together in Cyberspace for quite a while for the weekly
meetings of their PeaceKids Club. They weren't surprised at all anymore that they
were able to have their meetings IN cyberspace. They were at first of course,
and had decided right from the start that they had better keep that part of their
meetings a secret. But the idea of "PeaceKids Clubs" was something they wanted
to spread as much as possible. And spread it did!
Other Kids all around the world were inspired by the kinds of projects the PeaceKids
did when they got home to their communities after their meetings. PeaceKids Clubs
started popping up in schools and churches and neighborhoods everywhere. Lots
of other PeaceKids Clubs decided to meet through the worldwide web, but none of
the other PeaceKids Clubs had figured out how to actually be transported INTO
cyberspace for their meetings. Or at least if they did find themselves magically
materializing together on the worldwide web, they were keeping it a secret, too.
PeaceKids
Clubs were getting more well known, but it's a big world and the truth is, most
people had still never heard of them. That's why the PeaceKids still got excited
any time someone contacted them to tell them how inspiring PeaceKids Clubs were.
And the PeaceKids made sure to bring the letter or email to share with the others
at their next meeting.
One week, though, Michiko received a special package that really got her excited.
She could barely wait to share it with others and was the first to log onto the
PeaceKids website. She did her best to try and sit patiently while the other Kidz
appeared one by one.
"This
week's meeting of the PeaceKids Club is officially called to order," Ahmed typed
on his laptop as all of the PeaceKids had materialized in Cyberspace.
Michiko took
a deep breath and hugged her package tightly. She wanted to jump up and share
her news with everyone, but she took yet another deep breath and reminded herself
that she was trying to work on her patience.
"Is
there any new business?" Ming finally asked.
Michiko politely waited for Indira to finish telling the Club about a special
Peace Meeting kids had helped arrange between India and Pakistan over the weekend.
Ten Nobel Prize winners and more than 200 kids helped bring the Indian and Pakastani
leaders together for a very important dialogue.
Solomon told everyone about a big Peace Festival in his village that kids working
with the international organization, PeaceSeeds, had organized. It brought Israeli
and Palestinian children and adults together for a weekend of cultural sharing.
Michiko
congratulated herself as she successfully waited until no one else seemed to have
any more news to share. Then just as they were about to move on, she jumped up
and showed everyone the package.
"Guys,
look at this. It was delivered by special messenger to my father's office. He's
an attorney for a big law firm in Japan, and he says this is for real!"
Michiko was
so excited that she was jumping up and down.
"But
what is it?" everyone wondered.
"It's
a TREASURE MAP!" Michiko exclaimed.
"A
treasure map?" the PeaceKids said in disbelief. They were a little disappointed.
After all only pirates in story books get excited about treasure maps.
"No, really
guys!" Michiko insisted. This is for real. Haven't you heard about that rich,
eccentric mega-billionaire who hid a billion dollars. It was in the news all over
the world …"
Most of the PeaceKids remembered hearing about it. "But that was last year," Jamal
exclaimed. "And all the newspapers said it was just a hoax … right?"
"They just said that because
no one found it!" Michiko laughed. "But it's real, and this is the only map that
he's ever given out. My Dad says he wants US to find the treasure!"
The PeaceKids were still a little skeptical.
"It
sure would be great to have some money for peace," Juan sighed. "Think of all
the things we could do with funds to make our wish For a Culture of Peace come
true."
"And
a billion dollars would take us pretty far!" Ming laughed.
"Well, what does the map look
like?" Maria asked. All the PeaceKids seemed to be a little more excited to at
least check into this a little further.
"I
don't know, I haven't opened the package yet," Michiko smiled. "I was waiting
until we all opened it together."
"Well,
open it!" everyone exclaimed, quite excited.
Michiko carefully opened the flaps, slowly so as not to rip it. She was trying
very hard to keep her pledge to be more patient, and was feeling quite proud of
herself. But the PeaceKids didn't think this was the time to practice patience.
"Tear it open, Michiko," they begged.
Finally the package was open and Michiko reached inside and pulled out a thick
folded wad of paper. Carefully she opened each flap until the paper was completely
unfolded. There was nothing inside. The PeaceKids looked at the large six foot
wide sheet of blank paper, and then at Michiko.
"Isn't
a treasure map supposed to have a map on it?" everyone wanted to say, but no one
said a word. Michiko sat down and there were tears in her eyes.
"I don't know what's going
on. My father said the lawyers that brought it assured him this was a real treasure
map…"
"Uh…
Guys, look at this," Johnny said. He had picked up the box and found a tiny magnifying
glass inside.
"Maybe
it's not a blank page after all," he said as he began poring over the page with
the magnifying glass. Everyone stared over his shoulder.
He stopped in the center of the page. "Look! There's something here…"
"A map?" everyone
wondered at once.
"Hmm…
well, not exactly," Johnny said. He looked up at his friends.
"Well, what is it?" Michiko
piped out. So much for patience.
"Well,
it's the address of a website…"
"A
website?" the PeaceKids exclaimed.
"Yep.
It's tiny, but that's definitely what it is," Johnny insisted.
"Well, what's the address,"
Erin gasped and all the other kids exclaimed the same question.
"Well, you're not going to
believe this…"
"What
is it?" everyone demanded.
It seemed too obvious to believe, but all the PeaceKids thought they should check
it out anyway. But Ahmed was way ahead of them. He'd already typed the address
into his laptop and the PeaceKids suddenly found themselves zipping down the information
super-highway.
Chapter 2. Peace Treasure Map
In an instant the PeaceKids had whooshed through Cyberspace and appeared at their
destination. But at first they didn't see anything, just the emptiness of Cyberspace.
"Wait,
look over there!" Erin pointed and they all saw something in the distance. As
they stared together, they realized that it looked just like a treasure map laid
out with a black marker.
"Come
on," Michiko laughed and they all started running towards it. As they got closer,
they saw that the "black line" was really a tall brick wall that seemed to stretch
out forever in both directions.
"Hmm…"
they all sighed. Now what? The wall was too high to climb.
"Let's walk around it. Maybe
there's a gate somewhere," Jamal urged, and they started walking together around
the wall's perimeter. Sure enough, there was an entrance just around the corner.
They all headed towards it.
"Wait,
Johnny said pointing twenty feet further. "Look there's another entrance." He
ran towards the second gate. A few of the PeaceKids followed him.
"Uh…" Cheyenne said as Johnny
was about to go inside. "Wait a sec. There's another entrance a little further
up ahead."
When they reached that gate, they saw another entrance further down the wall,
and off in the distance they could see gate after gate.
The PeaceKids weren't sure what to do. Some of them wanted to go into the first
gate, some the second and some the third or the fourth or the eighth or the tenth.
"Should we split up?" they wondered?
"Look
guys," Michiko said, taking a deep breath. She was standing in front of the first
entrance and had a strong feeling they should try that one, but she felt even
more strongly that they should take their time to make the right decision. "Let's
just stand here a moment together in silence and then we'll make a decision together."
The
PeaceKids all agreed and they joined hands and stood in a circle with their eyes
closed for a moment.
They enjoyed the silence together. Then very softly, but very distinctly they
began to hear a gentle melody floating towards them from somewhere in the distance.
Michiko
wanted to open her eyes and peek at where the music was coming from, but she took
a deep breath instead and concentrated on the sound she heard with her eyes closed.
After
another moment or so, the children all opened their eyes and all of them turned
towards the second entrance in unison. They were all certain that they'd heard
the music coming from there. Before any of them could say a word, a white dove
sailed over their heads and flew through the gate at the second entrance. The
PeaceKids looked at each other with wide eyes. They took another deep breath and
dashed over to the second gate.
The PeaceKids knew they had to go through the second entrance. The only problem
was that it seemed to be locked.
"Maybe
we should try the other gates to see if they open?" Juan suggested.
"But the dove went through
this one," Ahmed and Solomon said together.
"Hang
on guys," Johnny said. While the PeaceKids were trying to figure out what to do
next, he'd pulled out the tiny magnifying glass and had started to examine the
old wooden door. Right where you'd expect a door knocker to be, he found something.
"What
does it say?!" the PeaceKids gasped when he told them there was something written
on the door.
"It's
another web address."
Before Johnny had even finished saying dot com, Ahmed had typed the address onto
his laptop. But before he pressed enter, Erin suggested the PeaceKids have another
moment of silence. So that's what they did. Then Ahmed clicked the link.
Chapter
3. Peace Gate
Even with their eyes closed, the PeaceKids could tell by that wonderful sensation
they were quite used to by now, that they had just been transported through cyberspace
through the hyperlink Ahmed had pressed.
So, it's only natural that when they opened their eyes, they expected to be standing
on the other side of the PeaceGate.
But they were still standing in front of the Gate. There was something different,
however. There were three doorbells lined up on the door. As the PeaceKids moved
closer they saw that there was writing under each one.
They didn't need the magnifying glass to read the words. Under the first doorbell
was the name, "Albert Schweitzer." Under the second, "Sir Thomas More." And under
the third, "Rigoberto Menchu."
The PeaceKids felt certain that they were supposed to press the bell with the
correct answer. But what was the question?
Michiko stepped back from the door to try to think by herself a moment. Then she
noticed the plaque above the door. She could now easily see that it had a question
on it. "Who wrote Utopia in 1517?" she read.
The PeaceKids looked back at Michiko and realized what she had discovered. Ahmed
hesitated only a moment, then was about to start tapping on his computer to research
the answer.
"Wait,
Ahmed!" Ming gasped as she saw what he was about to do. "We don't want to risk
being transported somewhere else…" Ahmed stopped himself just in time.
"That's okay.
I know the answer to this," Johnny laughed. "I saw my older sister reading this
book once - This is the answer," he said and he reached up and pressed one of
the bells.
"Wait,
we should talk about it first," Michiko gasped, not sure if Johnny was pressing
the correct bell.
But Johnny was right. Unfortunately, the Gate didn't open. Instead, a new question
appeared above the door and instead of 3 bells, there were now 10 bells with answers
beneath them.
"In
what year did the leaders of Europe hold a Peace Conference in Holland to end
all wars?" the children read together.
Then they looked down under the doorbells. "1452, 1784, 1889, 1899, 1900, 1901,
1989, 1999, 2000, 2001."
"Oh,
I know this one!" Cheyenne exclaimed. "Grandfather went to that conference when
I was little … I remember him talking about it. So it would have to be the 1999
or 2000 or 2001… But wait. That's right. It wasn't Holland, it was in The Hague."
"That's
a part of The Netherlands, which is another name for Holland," Erin pointed out.
"Wait
a second, you mean the Hague Appeal for Peace?" Jamal said. "I know about that,
too. That was the biggest Peace Conference ever - 10,000 peacemakers came from
all around the world to talk about peace. But they weren't the leaders of Europe.
That meeting was in honor of the peace meeting between Europe's leaders that took
place 100 years earlier. So this one is the right answer."
Jamal pointed at the bell above the answer he chose, but he didn't press it.
"Are you sure?"
the other PeaceKids exclaimed.
"Absolute…
well, pretty sure," Jamal said, now starting to doubt himself a little. "Does
any one else have a better idea…?"
No one else had any idea at all. "Go ahead, press it, Jamal," the PeaceKids agreed.
Hesitantly,
Jamal pressed the buzzer. Suddenly all the buzzers disappeared. A single line
of writing appeared on the door. It was another website.
The PeaceKids paused a moment,
took a deep breath and then Ahmed typed the new web address onto his laptop.
Chapter
4. Peace Maze
As Ahmed typed the URL, the Peace Gate opened. The PeaceKids smiled as they stepped
inside.
The Peace Maze wound round and round and round. It seemed like they were walking
for hours, but it passed quickly by for the PeaceKids because the walls of the
maze were painted with a giant mural that stretched out as far as they could see
in any direction. The pictures on the wall seemed to tell story after story of
kindness and compassion. It was hard to go very quickly without carefully examining
the wall every step of the way.
They continued on until there was a branch in the road. In front of the split
there were arrows that pointed in each of the roads' directions. As they walked
closer, the PeaceKids began to suspect that there would be something written on
the arrows that would help them to make their decision. Sure enough that's exactly
what they found.
On the first arrow they read, "Might makes right."
On the second it said, "The end justifies the means."
"The only road to peace is
peace," they read on the third arrow.
Without hesitating, they took the third branch.
The PeaceKids came to quite a number of forks in the road, and each time they
took their time to make the correct choice.
Finally they came to a bridge that had a gate across it. The bridge stretched
over a great chasm that seemed to fall forever downwards. On the other side of
the bridge, it looked like there was a pot of gold glimmering in the sunlight.
The
kids' hearts were pounding. Was that the peace treasure they were hoping to find?
In
front of the bridge there was a sign and of course there was a question on it.
All around the sign there were a whole bunch of levers, and the PeaceKids were
sure, of course that they would just happen to have possible answers on them.
"What
is the best way to resolve a conflict?" they read on the sign. Each of the PeaceKids
walked over to one of the levers. There just happened to be enough levers for
them each to stand in front of one.
"Talk
it out," Indira read. "This is the answer!" she exclaimed.
"Take a time out to cool down,"
Juan read. "Hang on, don't pull your lever, Indira. I think this one is the best
answer."
"Take
time to listen to what each side is saying," Jamal read.
"Ask a peer mediator to help
you work it out," Cheyenne's sign said.
"Mine's
good, too," Ming sighed. "Find a win-win solution."
"Agree
to disagree," Johnny added.
"Try
to look at the situation from the other point of view," Solomon read.
"Take a deep
breath or count to ten to calm yourself down," Maria exclaimed.
"Walk away from the problem
and agree to talk about it later," Ahmed's sign said.
"Share or take turns using
the thing you both want," Michiko sighed. "What are we going to do … they all
sound like good answers!"
Everyone agreed.
"Let's
pull them all," several of the PeaceKids said at once. Everyone agreed that was
the best idea.
They each stood ready at their lever, closed their eyes, took a deep breath and
whispered together, "May Peace Prevail On Earth." Then they pulled the levers
all together.
"Did
anything happen?" they each wondered. It didn't look like anything had changed
until Ahmed glanced down at his laptop. His cursor was typing on its own. Everyone
ran over to see.
They
read the website name as the cursor reached the end of the hyperlink and continued
blinking.
All the PeaceKids swallowed nervously, watching, waiting.
"Press it Ahmed," the PeaceKids
gasped as one, after a moment or two. They held their breaths.
Chapter 5.Peace Treasure
As Ahmed pressed the enter key, the most amazing thing happened. A Rainbow of
light seemed to rise out of the ground beneath their feet. It stretched up over
their heads and out over the top of the bridge across to the pot of treasure on
the other side. They were standing on the rainbow!
Tentatively, the PeaceKids looked out at the rainbow as it hung suspended above
the bridge. They held hands as they walked together over the great chasm, and
finally they were standing in front of a small pot of golden treasure.
The PeaceKids
couldn't believe their eyes. The gold shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight holding
their attention. It was a long time before any of them could even look away. Finally
Michiko did though, after a pleasurable sigh of joy. It was then that she noticed
a sign next to the treasure.
"Congratulations,
PeaceKids," she read. "Look guys!" she gasped.
They read the rest of the sign together. "You did it! This peace treasure is yours.
I have confidence that you will use it to help make the dream of peace on earth
come true."
There was a contract and a check tacked onto the sign. The check was for $1 billion
dollars.
The PeaceKids could not believe that this was happening. They knew that with a
billion dollars they could help boost the Peace Industry and help to create a
real culture of peace. They had been dreaming about so many ideas and plans that
they'd wanted to pursue. Now they'd be able to do all of them and more.
And that's
exactly what they did.
As soon as the weekly PeaceKids meeting was adjourned, the PeaceKids went back
to their own homes and communities. They told their families about the Peace Treasure
they'd found, although they left out the part about finding it IN Cyberspace.
Of
course their families thought they were all kidding. But Michiko's father arranged
for all of the families to travel by plane to meet together and discuss the contract
that they all had to sign.
The PeaceKids were so excited. It's true that they magically got together for
their PeaceKids meetings each week. But somehow, meeting together in real time
and space seemed even more magical.
The PeaceKids families sat with their mouths open, unable to speak at all, as
the PeaceKids shared with them all of the ideas they had.
They told their families about all of the amazing things that people were doing
across the globe to help make the world a better place and about their idea to
unite those efforts to create a giant Peace Industry that would help to transform
the world and create a culture of peace.
"Think
about what the world would be like if striving to create peace on earth was the
common goal that everyone shared," Michiko said.
"Think
about what it would be like if kids and adults learned the skills and tools to
work their problems out peacefully," Ahmed added.
"Think
about what it would be like if our heroes were peacemakers…" Cheyenne piped in.
"If
we were inspired and encouraged to work together for a better world in the TV
shows we watched, or the nightly news, and our video games and the movies we watched,
and the books we read," Johnny continued.
"Can
you imagine walking in to a bookstore or Video Store with a whole section of exciting
choices about working For a Culture of Peace…" Ming laughed.
The PeaceKids told their families about their idea of creating a number of Peace
Factories - centers around the world where artists and writers and musicians could
collectively work together to create books and music and movies and TV scripts
about the wish For a Culture of Peace.
"And
we'll create websites on the Internet to connect all these efforts together!"
the PeaceKids declared, "so that the world can see how much the Peace Industry
is growing."
Their families were so proud of the PeaceKids. What else could they say when the
PeaceKids concluded and asked their families what they thought about their ideas.
"Let's
start now!" everyone agreed. And so they did.
Chapter 6. Is Peace on Earth only a dream?
Michiko woke
up with a start. "Where am I?" she thought for only a moment as she saw that she
was lying on her bed. Her laptop was humming quietly beside her and she glanced
down at the clock.
"Oh
thank goodness I didn't miss our PeaceKids Club meeting," she sighed. "I woke
up just in time!"
Then she saw the unopened package on the bed and she had the strangest feeling.
Suddenly she felt very confused. "Wow, that was a strange dream. It felt so real…"
She
found herself automatically typing in the PeaceKids Club web address. Suddenly
she was in Cyberspace, and all her friends were there waiting for her.
"What's the
matter, Michiko?" they all asked, because she really didn't seem herself.
"I had the
strangest dream just now. It felt so real." She told them all about the peace
treasure hunt they had all gone on together in her dream, and the wonderful peace
treasure they found, and how with all that money, they helped the Peace Industry
to grow like crazy.
"That's
some dream!" the PeaceKids agreed. "If only it were true."
Michiko sighed sadly. Then she saw the package in her hand. "Oh, yeah, I forgot
about this package my Dad gave me today. I guess this is what got my imagination
running wild," she sighed. "It's probably just another CD like that one I got
last week."
"Well,
that one was really great and inspiring," Ming said. "So, I'd love to hear this
one."
"Yeah,
there are so many people creating inspiring works …" Jamal said. "Imagine if the
Peace Industry was really booming, artists and musicians and writers all around
the world would be encouraged to create for peace. It's the artists who can help
make the dream and wish For a Culture of Peace so clear and so real that people
will want to work to make it happen and believe that it can if we work on it together."
"But,
maybe there's really a treasure map inside the package," Indira teased.
"Wouldn't
that be wonderful," Michiko sighed yet again. "We're going to continue doing what
we can to grow the Peace Industry. But there are so many people with money out
there who could help make it happen so much easier and faster. Is it that impossible
to think that someday, someone might realize how easy it would really be to build
up a huge Peace Industry, simply just by helping to connect all of the efforts
that are already out there. A thriving Peace Industry would really transform our
world and create a culture of peace."
"Or
even if a whole lot of not-that-rich people got together and pooled their money,
it could do a lot to help grow the Peace Industry," Juan sighed.
"Someday," the PeaceKids agreed.
"Well,
open it already, Michiko!" the PeaceKids urged, knowing that whatever was inside,
it would be a peace treasure.
And she did.
