Scarlet sighed as her second pickaxe shattered. She had plenty of iron and redstone, but she was searching for coal. She wouldn't be able to cook her food and ore without it. And she had none. And although she was looking for coal, it wasn't the only thing she was searching for. She was pursuing a meaning. A road less travelled by. She wanted to explore the world, discover knew things. But she didn't know where or how. And for now, her main focus was coal.

After removing another pickaxe from her stuffed inventory, Scarlet dug into the wall of the mine once again. Was she ever going to find what she was searching for, she did not know. She destroyed another cobblestone block, and a dim light emerged from beyond. There was a room, it was small and the walls were made of coal blocks. Exactly what she was looking for, but once again, not. So close, yet so far. What could she do with coal blocks? Suddenly something else struck her eye. It was strewn on the floor of the room, shining like a torch while small and dull at the same time. Scarlet picked it up, and realized it was a map. It looked relatively new. Not like it had just been made, more like her own age of 13 years. But in comparison to the existence of the world... contemporary.

The map was not extremely detailed. In the corner of the map, there was a black box with a green "O" on it. That must have been the coal-block room she was standing in. Near the center of the map there was a blue "X". There was nothing under it to show what it was marking. Scarlet saw no other markings. She didn't know which way to go toward the X. The map was almost useless. Scarlet put the map in her inventory and started on her way out of the mine.

When she got out of the mine, it was night. And she (from having dug straight up out of the mine) didn't know where she was. Suddenly she heard a tiny shuffle near her. The map had blown out of her inventory, but it looked different. From the darkness, the few markings on it were hard to see. It was covered with bright tiny dots, like stars. Maybe that's what they were. Exactly! The stars were her guide across the map, and she could only see them when it was dark, like they could only capture the light of themselves from the sky. She was ready to begin her journey.

Scarlet followed the stars exactly as she saw them on the map. In fact, the X didn’t seem too far away. So close, yet it felt so far. But she knew she could get there. The stars shined brightly on the map and in the sky. It was a difficult journey. The grass was spiky and there were slimes everywhere that she had to get around. The world was so vast. But she was determined to find the X, to see what had called to her.

Eventually, she was very tired. She contemplated turning back. But she never really would have. She was lost anyway. She stopped to take a break, and squinted at something in the distance. A wooden structure, surrounded by trees. She started running, very excited. This must have been what the X was marking. Suddenly she arrived at the structure. A pressure plate power bridge was suspended over the moat around it. It must have been a castle. She pushed open the doors, and was a bit surprised at what she saw.

It was a casual-looking lobby. There were some tables and chairs, a crafting table and an anvil. At the end of the room there was a spiral staircase. She walked up the stairs to see more. On the second floor, she found two bedrooms. They looked cozy, there were beds, bookshelves, and even melons in each one. The whole place looked like it was from a jungle. She walked up another flight of stairs. On one side of the third floor, there was a kitchen. On the other, a library. Scarlet walked into the kitchen and removed some melons from the iron fridge. She gobbled them down and continued her way up the stairs.

In the center of the fourth floor, was an art studio. Scarlet created colorful leather clothing and put it on. Then she walked into the small room next to it, which was a bathroom. She washed her hands in the sink and was fascinated by the fancy towel. She then ascended the last flight of stairs. On the top floor, the biggest, she found a fun roller coaster and a trampoline. Suddenly the map started shaking in her hands. She looked at it. A message was written across it.

“This castle is yours. Make the most of it. Create things in it, improve it, and live in it. You searched for coal, which you didn’t find. You found this. Sometimes life pushes you on a different path than the one on which you were travelling. More will come your way soon.”

Scarlet thought about everything that had happened. Why had she been brought to the castle? And suddenly she realized, this was exactly what she was looking for. And what better place to find an old map than digging underground? She heard flapping, and ran to the makeshift window that was really a line of jungle leaves. Outside, a magnificent black creature- the ender dragon, was flying into the distance. He must have created the map and the room and taken her coal to lead her there. Scarlet descended the stairs and went outside to see it fly away.

This story is based off of a castle project which you can see and download here
Thank you for reading, feedback welcome!