The Helper Key

David had a treasure chest. Inside were shiny gold coins that David had saved, one by one, for a very long time.

And the chest was magic. If somebody sang to it all night long, then in the morning a brand new coin would be sitting inside.

There was just one problem. David was a little dinosaur, and little dinosaurs get very sleepy.

Every night David sat by his chest and sang. “Tra-la-la, grow-grow-grow, tra-la… la… zzzzz.”

Every morning, no new coin.

David's big friend Panda, the red panda who lives at the top of Lantern Hill, loved staying up late. Panda could sing until the stars went home.

“David!” said Panda. “Let me sing to your chest every night. I'm awake anyway!”

David thought hard. To sing to the chest, Panda would need a key.

David's big gold key opened the lid. With the gold key, anybody could take every coin.

Panda was kind. But what if Panda dropped the key? What if somebody else picked it up?

Then David remembered: his magic chest came with two keys.

The gold key opens the lid. Only David keeps that one.

The little helper key can do just one thing. It turns the singing dial, so new coins can grow. It can never, ever open the lid.

So David kept the gold key and gave Panda the helper key.

Night after night, Panda sang. Morning after morning, a new coin popped up — inside David's chest, where it belonged.

David's treasure grew and grew, like a garden. Panda helped, and David thanked Panda with big breakfasts of pancakes.

When Panda came back, the helper key was gone. Panda searched everywhere.

Panda felt worried. But Panda went straight to David and told the truth. “David, I lost your helper key. I'm so sorry.”

David gave Panda a big hug. “Thank you for telling me right away. Don't worry. The helper key can never open the lid.”

Together they looked inside the chest. Every coin was still there, and one extra, thanks to the Fox!

Then David used his gold key to tell the chest, “Forget that old helper key.” And he made a brand new one for Panda.

And the gold key? David keeps it somewhere safe, somewhere only he knows.

Because a helper key can be lost, and that's okay. But the gold key is the one key that must never, ever leave David's paws.

The End