You know that expression, "Money doesn't grow on trees." Well, in this case, it did. Here's what happened:

    Ding, Ding, Plunk, Whoop, Plunk, Ding! the carnival sang. Luca, Ian, Amelia, and Paul, their newfound friend, played ball toss at the carnival. 

    "Step right up; the ball toss is the easiest game in the carnival!" the ball toss gamekeeper said, "Only 2 dollars for three balls,"

    "I'll volunteer!" Luca yelled, "Here's your two dollars, my good man,"

    The ball toss worker gave him three very old red balls that were at least 100 years old. Luca threw the first one, and it missed by about 1 inch. Luca threw the second

ball, and it also missed, but by 5 inches, it almost hit the other stand. Luca threw the final ball really fast, and it hit dead center of the bottle tower.

    "Good job, young man!" the ball toss worker shouted, "You can choose any prize from the bottom row,"

    "I'll choose this map that totally doesn't look suspicious," Luca joked (Not foreshadowing anything…)

    "You'll need to answer this riddle to get the map," the ball toss keeper said mysteriously, "I can show you where things are, but I'm not a tour guide. I have a scale, but I don't weigh things. I contain roads, but I'm not a city. I can be on paper or a phone but not on a shopping list. I can show you what's north, south, west, and east, but I'm not a compass. What am I?

    Luca saw this riddle yesterday on a website about maps, so he immediately knew the answer. He said, "Map," and the gamekeeper said it was the correct answer. The whole group of friends celebrated in delight. 

    "We should take a group photo!" Paul suggested. He took out his phone and said, "Cheese!" Then, Luca spotted a plot of land named "Gloomlake Forest" on the map.

    " Wait, guys…" Luca advised, "Look at this. "He pointed to the plot of land on the map. There was a big "X" in the middle of the forest.

    "You don't mean THE Gloomlake Forest at the edge of

town, right?" Paul wondered out loud. "The one that when you enter even the first inch, the thick gloomy mist will cov-"

    "Do you think that this is an ancient treasure map?" Luca interrupted. "It might have a lot of treasure at the red 'X' mark,"

    So, since it was summer break, the four friends decided to go to Gloomlake Forest without telling their parents. Only Ian suggested they talk to their parents, but they outvoted him 3 to 1. Right when they entered the forest, it was just like what Paul said. A thick, gloomy mist covered them like a blanket. It was a good thing they brought their flashlight because it was VERY dark.

But even the flashlight couldn't illuminate even one single molecule of the forest because of the thick mist.

    "Well, what do you suggest we do now?" Amelia said quietly. "We forgot our way in here, so what will you do, Luca?"

    "Um…" Luca stuttered. "I don't know…"

    But then suddenly, a giant, bright, and glowing tree dropped from the forest's canopy. The friends looked at the tree in awe. The tree was made of expensive wood, and at least $1,000,000 in cash was hung from the branches. The tree instantly illuminated everything in the forest, and it turns out that the thick mist was covering the forest floor, and it had a lot of colored flowers and

even more money trees!

    "What. On. Earth. Just happened?!" Amelia yelled in surprise.

    But Ian and Paul were already busy picking every single bill off the tree. After 5 seconds, they had ½ of their yearly allowance, which is $100. 

    "We don't need any yearly allowance for the rest of our lives!" Ian and Paul gasped.

    By the end of the sentence, everyone was busy picking money off the trees. After one minute, the first tree they found was stripped of their money. They figured it was enough and found the exit.

    After they got out of the forest and onto the streets of

the city, people on the roads started to wonder why they had that much money. As they carried all the money throughout the streets, some of it flew out of their hands and onto the street, where people started to catch it.      

    One of those people who caught it was a scientist. He wondered how the kids could have all of that money. After a few days had passed, and a VERY expensive item was purchased, the friends decided they should go for a second round of picking money off the trees. But the scientist was also ready to pick money. 

    As the friends walked into the forest a second time, they had no idea that the scientist was following them. When the scientist walked into the forest, he found out

about an impossible scientific discovery– a money tree. The scientist looked around and saw not one, not two, but at least ten different bright yellow trees with money dangling from the branches. But that wasn't what the scientist was going for. He was looking for a little money tree sapling. While he was looking for the sapling, the friends were already busy stripping the trees from their money. 

    After about 5 minutes of searching for the sapling, he found it! It was a tiny sapling the size of a fist, without any leaves, and it was glowing brighter than any other. When the scientist picked the sapling off the floor, it stopped glowing completely. Then, the scientist put the