Maks and Zosia find a strange new cabinet in their classroom. It has a golden key, a note, and a whisper from inside. Their school day is about to turn mysterious.
It was Monday morning in Class 2B, and the room did not feel quite right.
Maks stopped in the doorway. Zosia bumped into his shoulder and looked past him. In the corner, beside the blackboard, stood a cupboard none of them had seen before. It was taller than the others, painted a deep, dark blue, and a golden key hung from its handle on a red string.
"That wasn't here yesterday," Maks whispered.
Zosia nodded. Her eyes were round. "What do you think is inside?"
Before Maks could answer, Mrs Kasia turned from her desk and smiled in a way that made the whole class go quiet.
"This cupboard arrived this morning just for you," she said. "But it won't open for everyone. Only for the children who can solve its riddles."
A buzz of excited voices filled the room. Chairs scraped. Little feet hurried across the floor. Maks and Zosia were already at the cupboard before anyone else could reach it.
On the door hung a note. The letters were neat and curly, as if they had been written by a very careful hand.
Find the riddle and you will discover what the cupboard hides.
Maks reached for the note, but Zosia spotted something first. A folded scrap of paper lay under the bench by the window, as if it had slipped there on purpose. They knelt together and opened it.
Inside was a riddle written in bright coloured ink.
Maks leaned closer, but before he could read the first line, a tiny sound floated from inside the cupboard.
A whisper.
Both children froze.
Then the cupboard gave a soft creak.