Milo squinted at the index card in his hand. It was supposed to be a school assignment, but it felt more like a treasure map. His teacher, Ms. Temple, had called it the "key to unlocking any mystery." But this just looked like random symbols to him: 1, 7, %3, and a weird crescent triangle thing at the bottom.

He flipped the card over. No instructions. Nothing.

"Mom!" he called, rushing downstairs. "I’m going on an adventure!"

His mom barely glanced up from her crossword. "What kind of adventure?"

"The kind that starts with this card!" Milo said, holding it up like it was a golden ticket.

She sighed. "It's just a school project."

"Nope," Milo grinned. "This is way bigger. You’ll see."

With that, he dashed out the door, determined to figure out what this index was really leading to.

Running down the street, jumping over the neighbors buried plastic flowers, zig zagging past every mailbox when a rush of caution interrupted his fierce urgency! Milo was struck with a sudden thought "where am I going? and "why did mom let me leave the house alone at this hour?" Milo didn't move, but turned his head back to see if his mom was somewhere close waiting on him to turn back around. Milo was alone and suddenly struck with fear, noticing the sun was quickly dipping past the horizon, changing the skies deep burnt orange glow to a dark abyss. Milo never noticed all the empty homes lining the block