The Glitter Trail

It's mid-morning at Sunflower Preschool. In the gathering room stands a small blue box with gold dots. Miss Tilda calls it the Surprise Box. Inside are secret stickers that everyone will get after fruit time.

Max points. "I see the box!" he says.

"Good, you see it, but don't touch it yet," smiles Miss Tilda as she goes to get oranges.

When she comes back, the table is empty.

"The box!" says Nelli. "It's gone!"

Max squints. "We'll be detectives!" he says and takes out the little flashlight he always keeps in his pocket, though it only shines like a toy.

On the floor something glitters. "Look," whispers Nelli. Small silver dots form a trail across the carpet.

"Glitter trail!" says Max. "We'll follow it."

The trail winds past the building blocks and stops at the craft corner. On the table stands a jar of silver glitter, its lid a little crooked. Under the chair lies a small paper note. Nelli picks it up carefully.

On the note are three small pictures, drawn with thick crayon: a flower, a wheel, and a pillow.

"A riddle!" says Nelli. "Flower... wheel... pillow. What does it mean?"

Max looks around. "Flowers are on the teacups in the doll room," he says. "Wheels... they're on the doll wagon. Pillows are in the reading corner."

"We'll go to the doll room first," decides Nelli.

They tiptoe into the doll room. The tea service with small painted flowers sits on a table. On the edge of the table sits a butterfly with gold glitter—a sticker that fell off.

"Another clue!" says Max. He bends down. The floor glitters faintly. In the glitter, small round marks appear, like dots in a row.

"Wheel marks," says Nelli. "But they're dotted. Which wheels are dotted?"

Max rolls out the doll wagon. The sides of the wheels are dotted with white dots. He rolls one wheel. The dots leave small round marks in the glitter. The pattern matches.

"Someone drove the wagon through the glitter," says Nelli. "Follow the trail!"

They follow the dot trail out into the corridor. The trail turns past the shoes and continues toward the reading corner. There, pillows stand in a pile like a soft mountain.

"Pillow!" says Max. "That was the third picture."

Nelli lifts the top pillow. Just air. She lifts the next. And the next. Under the biggest pillow lies not the box, but a new note, taped with a star... Nelli giggles. "Not a star! A shell!"

On the note, a shell is drawn, and next to it, a little wave. Next to the note lies a piece of orange peel.

"Shell and wave... water!" says Max. "And orange. Fruit and the water table!"

They hurry, but not too fast, for detectives move calmly. From the water play room comes a soft plop, plop, plop.

Miss Tilda stands by the door and smiles. "You two look very busy."

"We're following clues," says Nelli. "We're looking for the Surprise Box."

Inside, by the water table, sits little Signe. She has rolled up her sweater sleeves. In front of her floats the blue box with gold dots like a boat. She nudges gently with a spoon. On the box, a blue yarn string serves as a steering string. Around her, glitter sparkles like small fish in the water.

"My boat is brave," says Signe. "It sails to the orange island." She points to the little orange peel mountain at the edge.

Nelli and Max exchange glances. They look at the note with the shell, at the water table, at the floating box.

"The mystery is solved," says Max proudly.

"Signe," says Nelli softly, "that's the Surprise Box. We were looking for it."

Signe waves. "Hi box," she says to the box. "You can be treasure and boat."

Miss Tilda nods. "What a nice idea. The box probably likes adventures. But it wants to be dry again. Shall we help it up?"

Nelli and Max carefully lift the box together. The drops glitter on the lid. Max dries it with a towel that smells of soap. Nelli unties the yarn string.

"We also found your clues," says Max to Signe. "They were clever."

Signe smiles broadly. "I drew with thick crayon. I thought: flower for doll room, wheel for the wagon, pillow for hiding place, shell for water."

"That was smart," says Nelli. "Do you want to join our detective club?"

Signe nods so the tuft bounces.

Later, in the gathering room, Miss Tilda opens the now dry box. Inside are glittering stickers. Everyone gets to choose one.

Nelli takes a little shell. Max chooses a wagon with dotted wheels. Signe takes a blue wave.

"And we'll take one for the box," says Nelli. She puts a little heart on the inside of the lid. "Because it dared to sail."

Max places his toy flashlight under the lid for a second, creating a secret little light. "Detective Club Sunflower," he whispers. "We'll solve the next mystery too."

Nelli nods and sees that the glitter trail on the floor has almost been swept away. But in her head it still sparkles with clues and small adventures.