July 29, 2025 • 13 mins
Uncertainty remains about what was damaged in the library fire, so Marie, JJ, and Christian focus their efforts on looking for the symbol on the oldest buildings on Ahway Island. Marie has an unexpected and exciting stroke of insight that just might turn things upside down.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to adventures on Awe Island.
Chapter 4 An Unexpected Ally Part Three It was the start of a
new week. As Marie sat in her first class
of the morning, her mind driftedback to thoughts of the fire at
(00:28):
the library that it happened theday prior.
Being in the library when the fire alarm went off had been a
bit scary, but a bit exciting too.
That is until she found out there had actually been a fire
in the rare and out of print books section.
(00:48):
Now Marie couldn't stop worrying.
What if the secret spot had beendamaged?
If the book contained clues to help them solve the riddles, but
it was ruined in the fire, she had no idea what they would do.
Marie's heart thumped loudly in her chest as she anxiously
doodled X's on her paper, makingX marks the spot again and again
(01:13):
and again. When lunchtime arrived, she met
JJ and Christian at their usual table.
Her two best friends faces looked as worried as she
imagined hers did. Have you heard anything about
what was damaged in the library fire or when it will reopen?
Marie asked apprehensively. JJ shook her head side to side
(01:34):
and Christian added. Nope, nothing.
Me neither. Marie said opening her lunch
bag. They ate their meals in grim
silence. Upon finishing her sandwich and
carrot sticks, Marie noticed herlunch bag still had some weight
to it and she peeked inside. Sitting in the bottom were three
(01:55):
homemade brownies that her dad must have packed to surprise her
When he baked. He usually put three separate
treats in her lunch bag so she could share with her friends.
She smiled. She passed one brownie to JJ and
one to Christian. Her friends eagerly took the
brownies and for the first time that lunch, they smiled too.
(02:19):
Thanks. Christian said as he immediately
began to eat his. I love your dad's brownies.
JJ mumbled threw a bite of fudgychocolatey treat.
The surprise treat helped to lighten the mood a bit.
Marie finally felt like talking about their next steps in trying
to solve the riddles. She took out her journal that
(02:41):
held her detective's notes and glanced at the spot where she
jotted down the third Riddle. The symbol is the key.
You need the thing to find the thing to see where to find it.
You may ask, Observe and think. That's the task.
The oldest on this island home, That's the place for you to
(03:02):
roam. Marie read the Riddle silently
one more time, then looked up ather friends.
Until we hear more about what was ruined in the fire at the
library, I think we should focuson figuring out the oldest
building on Awe Island. Marie said thoughtfully.
JJ and Christian both nodded in agreement.
(03:25):
Since the school was destroyed and has been completely rebuilt,
we can't look there. Marie continued.
We can look at Amato's Ice creamshop more closely since that was
the original grocery store. She suggested, tapping her
finger on her paper for emphasis.
JJ raised an eyebrow as she spoke.
(03:46):
I mean, Madame Amato did say hershop was one of the oldest
buildings on Hawaii Island. I'm not saying we shouldn't
check there, but if it was the oldest building, why didn't she
just tell us? Wouldn't she know?
Christian threw his hands up in frustration.
(04:06):
Because she never tells us stuffdirectly.
Madame Amato only tells us what she wants to tell us.
She probably knows exactly wherewe should be looking, he said
ruefully. Marie sighed.
Christian was probably right. Madame Amato had said there were
things she was not at liberty todiscuss, but she also had
(04:28):
assured them that they could figure it out on their own.
Well, let's just check every place out so we can be sure we
don't miss anything, Marie said.At least we know what symbol
we're looking for. We can check the library, the
park and pavilion, and the ice cream shop ourselves.
And I can ask my dad if he'll take us to the civic building.
(04:51):
Hoping to relieve some tension. Marie raised her hand in a
thumbs up. JJ immediately caught on and
pressed her thumb to Marie's with a smile.
Christian sighed, still looking a little morose.
Then he rolled his eyes and grinned, adding his thumb to
theirs. The three friends burst into
laughter and Marie felt a spark of determination.
(05:16):
Despite the fire, despite MadameAmato's secrets, they were still
pressing on with the mystery together.
After a bit more conversation, they decided they would start on
Thursday after school, which wasthe first day none of them had
after school activities. They would check all the
buildings they could walk to 1st.
(05:37):
If they didn't find the symbol on any of those, they would ask
Marie's dad for a ride to the civic building.
Marie found it difficult to focus the rest of the school
day. She didn't really want to wait
until Thursday to investigate the buildings.
She was anxious to check this next task off and make more
progress on solving the third Riddle.
(05:59):
And they still had the second Riddle to solve too, she
reminded herself. The one from the buried
treasure. She also couldn't stop thinking
about the rare and out of print books section of the library.
When would it reopen? She fervently hoped nothing had
been destroyed, that they might need to solve the riddles.
After school, Marie walked home alone.
(06:23):
JJ had a robotics team building session, and Christian had
somewhere to go with his mom. As she neared the library on the
way to her house, she held her breath, hoping to see everything
back to normal. But there was nobody milling
about as would be typical at this time of day, and there were
no cars in the parking lot except for a few work vehicles.
(06:47):
Inside was completely dark, likethe power had been shut off.
Disappointed, Marie continued onhome.
Tuesday and Wednesday crept by as Marie counted down the days.
But finally Thursday came and itwas time to investigate the
oldest buildings on AOT Way Island.
She met JJ and Christian after school with her detective's
(07:09):
journal in hand. JJ had her notebook too.
The trio headed for the library first.
It was still closed so they couldn't look inside, but there
was a handwritten note taped to the door that read reopening
tomorrow with a :) next to it. That was great news.
They walked the perimeter, paying special attention to the
(07:31):
original portion of the building, but they didn't see
anything that looked at all likethe symbol.
Next, they headed to the park inpavilion.
After a careful search turned upnothing.
They relaxed for a few minutes at the picnic table in the
pavilion while both JJ and Mariemade notes to their respective
(07:52):
notebooks. Marie looked up.
I wonder if this is the same picnic table the teenagers in
the picture sat at? She mused.
I don't think so. JJ said.
That photo was from 2000. This doesn't look that old.
Nonetheless, Marie's thought inspired all of them to get up
and inspect every inch of the picnic table too, just in case
(08:16):
it had the symbol on it. No such luck.
Finally, they headed to Amato's Ice Cream, choosing to creep
around the perimeter first before going to look inside.
They found a few interesting markings on the building, but
nothing that resembled the symbol they were looking for.
When they went inside, they weresurprised to find someone they
(08:39):
didn't recognize behind the counter.
Hey kids, what can I get you? The man greeted them with a
smile. Marie studied him carefully.
He was tall and lanky with sandybrown unruly hair.
He was wearing a really cool blue T-shirt with an owl and a
mountain and a moon on it. Where's Madame Amato?
(09:02):
Christian asked bluntly. Oh, she had to go away for a
bit. The man said.
Don't worry, she'll be back as soon as she can.
I'm tending the shot while she'sgone.
Marie felt like she had been punched in her stomach now Madam
Amato was gone too. Hector Saphos left after the
(09:23):
fire in the library. This news seemed like too much.
3 scoops of vanilla Vista Berry crumble in cups, please.
JJ said without even asking her friends if that's really what
they wanted. The man looked behind the glass
counter at the tubs of ice creamand then turned back to them.
I'm sorry kiddo, it looks like we don't have that flavor today.
(09:46):
He said. Marie just stared at the man in
disbelief. It was like someone had pulled
away the thread that held everything together.
Of course they would be out of the special ice cream today, why
not? And everything else was going
wrong too. The man looked at all of them
expectantly, but none of them spoke.
(10:08):
Finally, the man said. Is there another flavor I can
get you? The trio ordered different
flavors and paid. Marie fell back on her old
favorite peanut butter cookie dough, but it just wasn't the
same. They sat down at one of the
tables inside the shop and ate slowly, eyes scanning the walls,
(10:30):
the counter, the ceiling. They examined every inch of the
interior, but they didn't see the symbol anywhere.
The mood was quite dour on theirwalk home.
Today's search had turned up nothing except disappointment.
Marie promised to ask her dad when he could drive them to the
(10:50):
civic building, and the friends parted ways when they reached
her house that evening. After she finished her homework,
Marie added even more notes to her journal about what they'd
learned that day. It wasn't much, but she also
decided to make note of important dates, in case that
was relevant. She jotted down the date they
(11:12):
found the map, the date they found the buried treasure, the
date she found out Sophos had quit working at the library, the
date of the fire in the restricted section of the
library, and now today's date. Because it was the date they
found out Madame Amato had left too.
(11:32):
Absentmindedly, Marie went to her desk, took out the linen bag
with the items from the treasurechest, and opened it.
The metal dragon figurine tumbled out onto her desk.
She picked it up and went and sat on her bed, fidgeting with
the dragon in her hands as she tried to review all the clues.
After not finding the symbol on any of the buildings today, she
(11:55):
didn't hold much hope that they would find it on the civic
building either, since that had been renovated as well.
What were they missing? There had to be something, she
was sure of it. She turned the small metal
dragon figurine over in her handso she could examine the symbol
on its underside. The same symbol had been on the
(12:18):
dragon stuffy too. Record, scratch, stop the
presses. What if the oldest on this
island home wasn't a building after all?
What if it was something or someone connected to Dragon, the
real dragon that lived somewherein the AWE Island Forest?
(12:39):
Marie's heartbeat a little faster at the thought.
Of course, why else would the symbol be on both the dragon
Stuffy and the dragon figurine? The more she considered the
possibility, the more sense it made.
With this new lead to follow, Marie got ready for bed, said
goodnight to her parents, and slid beneath her covers to
(13:03):
ponder further. She smiled as she clutched the
dragon stuffy to her side. She couldn't wait to tell her
idea to JJ and Christian tomorrow.
Marie can't wait to share her idea about the dragon clues with
(13:24):
JJ and Christian, but they see the connection as clearly as she
does. Find out when the adventure
continues in our next episode ofAdventures on Awe Island.
Thanks for listening to Adventures on Awe Island.
Be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast player so you
(13:47):
don't miss an episode.
Welcome to adventures on Awe Island.
Chapter 4 An Unexpected Ally Part Three It was the start of a
new week. As Marie sat in her first class
of the morning, her mind driftedback to thoughts of the fire at
(00:28):
the library that it happened theday prior.
Being in the library when the fire alarm went off had been a
bit scary, but a bit exciting too.
That is until she found out there had actually been a fire
in the rare and out of print books section.
(00:48):
Now Marie couldn't stop worrying.
What if the secret spot had beendamaged?
If the book contained clues to help them solve the riddles, but
it was ruined in the fire, she had no idea what they would do.
Marie's heart thumped loudly in her chest as she anxiously
doodled X's on her paper, makingX marks the spot again and again
(01:13):
and again. When lunchtime arrived, she met
JJ and Christian at their usual table.
Her two best friends faces looked as worried as she
imagined hers did. Have you heard anything about
what was damaged in the library fire or when it will reopen?
Marie asked apprehensively. JJ shook her head side to side
(01:34):
and Christian added. Nope, nothing.
Me neither. Marie said opening her lunch
bag. They ate their meals in grim
silence. Upon finishing her sandwich and
carrot sticks, Marie noticed herlunch bag still had some weight
to it and she peeked inside. Sitting in the bottom were three
(01:55):
homemade brownies that her dad must have packed to surprise her
When he baked. He usually put three separate
treats in her lunch bag so she could share with her friends.
She smiled. She passed one brownie to JJ and
one to Christian. Her friends eagerly took the
brownies and for the first time that lunch, they smiled too.
(02:19):
Thanks. Christian said as he immediately
began to eat his. I love your dad's brownies.
JJ mumbled threw a bite of fudgychocolatey treat.
The surprise treat helped to lighten the mood a bit.
Marie finally felt like talking about their next steps in trying
to solve the riddles. She took out her journal that
(02:41):
held her detective's notes and glanced at the spot where she
jotted down the third Riddle. The symbol is the key.
You need the thing to find the thing to see where to find it.
You may ask, Observe and think. That's the task.
The oldest on this island home, That's the place for you to
(03:02):
roam. Marie read the Riddle silently
one more time, then looked up ather friends.
Until we hear more about what was ruined in the fire at the
library, I think we should focuson figuring out the oldest
building on Awe Island. Marie said thoughtfully.
JJ and Christian both nodded in agreement.
(03:25):
Since the school was destroyed and has been completely rebuilt,
we can't look there. Marie continued.
We can look at Amato's Ice creamshop more closely since that was
the original grocery store. She suggested, tapping her
finger on her paper for emphasis.
JJ raised an eyebrow as she spoke.
(03:46):
I mean, Madame Amato did say hershop was one of the oldest
buildings on Hawaii Island. I'm not saying we shouldn't
check there, but if it was the oldest building, why didn't she
just tell us? Wouldn't she know?
Christian threw his hands up in frustration.
(04:06):
Because she never tells us stuffdirectly.
Madame Amato only tells us what she wants to tell us.
She probably knows exactly wherewe should be looking, he said
ruefully. Marie sighed.
Christian was probably right. Madame Amato had said there were
things she was not at liberty todiscuss, but she also had
(04:28):
assured them that they could figure it out on their own.
Well, let's just check every place out so we can be sure we
don't miss anything, Marie said.At least we know what symbol
we're looking for. We can check the library, the
park and pavilion, and the ice cream shop ourselves.
And I can ask my dad if he'll take us to the civic building.
(04:51):
Hoping to relieve some tension. Marie raised her hand in a
thumbs up. JJ immediately caught on and
pressed her thumb to Marie's with a smile.
Christian sighed, still looking a little morose.
Then he rolled his eyes and grinned, adding his thumb to
theirs. The three friends burst into
laughter and Marie felt a spark of determination.
(05:16):
Despite the fire, despite MadameAmato's secrets, they were still
pressing on with the mystery together.
After a bit more conversation, they decided they would start on
Thursday after school, which wasthe first day none of them had
after school activities. They would check all the
buildings they could walk to 1st.
(05:37):
If they didn't find the symbol on any of those, they would ask
Marie's dad for a ride to the civic building.
Marie found it difficult to focus the rest of the school
day. She didn't really want to wait
until Thursday to investigate the buildings.
She was anxious to check this next task off and make more
progress on solving the third Riddle.
(05:59):
And they still had the second Riddle to solve too, she
reminded herself. The one from the buried
treasure. She also couldn't stop thinking
about the rare and out of print books section of the library.
When would it reopen? She fervently hoped nothing had
been destroyed, that they might need to solve the riddles.
After school, Marie walked home alone.
(06:23):
JJ had a robotics team building session, and Christian had
somewhere to go with his mom. As she neared the library on the
way to her house, she held her breath, hoping to see everything
back to normal. But there was nobody milling
about as would be typical at this time of day, and there were
no cars in the parking lot except for a few work vehicles.
(06:47):
Inside was completely dark, likethe power had been shut off.
Disappointed, Marie continued onhome.
Tuesday and Wednesday crept by as Marie counted down the days.
But finally Thursday came and itwas time to investigate the
oldest buildings on AOT Way Island.
She met JJ and Christian after school with her detective's
(07:09):
journal in hand. JJ had her notebook too.
The trio headed for the library first.
It was still closed so they couldn't look inside, but there
was a handwritten note taped to the door that read reopening
tomorrow with a :) next to it. That was great news.
They walked the perimeter, paying special attention to the
(07:31):
original portion of the building, but they didn't see
anything that looked at all likethe symbol.
Next, they headed to the park inpavilion.
After a careful search turned upnothing.
They relaxed for a few minutes at the picnic table in the
pavilion while both JJ and Mariemade notes to their respective
(07:52):
notebooks. Marie looked up.
I wonder if this is the same picnic table the teenagers in
the picture sat at? She mused.
I don't think so. JJ said.
That photo was from 2000. This doesn't look that old.
Nonetheless, Marie's thought inspired all of them to get up
and inspect every inch of the picnic table too, just in case
(08:16):
it had the symbol on it. No such luck.
Finally, they headed to Amato's Ice Cream, choosing to creep
around the perimeter first before going to look inside.
They found a few interesting markings on the building, but
nothing that resembled the symbol they were looking for.
When they went inside, they weresurprised to find someone they
(08:39):
didn't recognize behind the counter.
Hey kids, what can I get you? The man greeted them with a
smile. Marie studied him carefully.
He was tall and lanky with sandybrown unruly hair.
He was wearing a really cool blue T-shirt with an owl and a
mountain and a moon on it. Where's Madame Amato?
(09:02):
Christian asked bluntly. Oh, she had to go away for a
bit. The man said.
Don't worry, she'll be back as soon as she can.
I'm tending the shot while she'sgone.
Marie felt like she had been punched in her stomach now Madam
Amato was gone too. Hector Saphos left after the
(09:23):
fire in the library. This news seemed like too much.
3 scoops of vanilla Vista Berry crumble in cups, please.
JJ said without even asking her friends if that's really what
they wanted. The man looked behind the glass
counter at the tubs of ice creamand then turned back to them.
I'm sorry kiddo, it looks like we don't have that flavor today.
(09:46):
He said. Marie just stared at the man in
disbelief. It was like someone had pulled
away the thread that held everything together.
Of course they would be out of the special ice cream today, why
not? And everything else was going
wrong too. The man looked at all of them
expectantly, but none of them spoke.
(10:08):
Finally, the man said. Is there another flavor I can
get you? The trio ordered different
flavors and paid. Marie fell back on her old
favorite peanut butter cookie dough, but it just wasn't the
same. They sat down at one of the
tables inside the shop and ate slowly, eyes scanning the walls,
(10:30):
the counter, the ceiling. They examined every inch of the
interior, but they didn't see the symbol anywhere.
The mood was quite dour on theirwalk home.
Today's search had turned up nothing except disappointment.
Marie promised to ask her dad when he could drive them to the
(10:50):
civic building, and the friends parted ways when they reached
her house that evening. After she finished her homework,
Marie added even more notes to her journal about what they'd
learned that day. It wasn't much, but she also
decided to make note of important dates, in case that
was relevant. She jotted down the date they
(11:12):
found the map, the date they found the buried treasure, the
date she found out Sophos had quit working at the library, the
date of the fire in the restricted section of the
library, and now today's date. Because it was the date they
found out Madame Amato had left too.
(11:32):
Absentmindedly, Marie went to her desk, took out the linen bag
with the items from the treasurechest, and opened it.
The metal dragon figurine tumbled out onto her desk.
She picked it up and went and sat on her bed, fidgeting with
the dragon in her hands as she tried to review all the clues.
After not finding the symbol on any of the buildings today, she
(11:55):
didn't hold much hope that they would find it on the civic
building either, since that had been renovated as well.
What were they missing? There had to be something, she
was sure of it. She turned the small metal
dragon figurine over in her handso she could examine the symbol
on its underside. The same symbol had been on the
(12:18):
dragon stuffy too. Record, scratch, stop the
presses. What if the oldest on this
island home wasn't a building after all?
What if it was something or someone connected to Dragon, the
real dragon that lived somewherein the AWE Island Forest?
(12:39):
Marie's heartbeat a little faster at the thought.
Of course, why else would the symbol be on both the dragon
Stuffy and the dragon figurine? The more she considered the
possibility, the more sense it made.
With this new lead to follow, Marie got ready for bed, said
goodnight to her parents, and slid beneath her covers to
(13:03):
ponder further. She smiled as she clutched the
dragon stuffy to her side. She couldn't wait to tell her
idea to JJ and Christian tomorrow.
Marie can't wait to share her idea about the dragon clues with
(13:24):
JJ and Christian, but they see the connection as clearly as she
does. Find out when the adventure
continues in our next episode ofAdventures on Awe Island.
Thanks for listening to Adventures on Awe Island.
Be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast player so you
(13:47):
don't miss an episode.
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