Explorer Ari was a great explorer.  One day he was in a grocery store and there were two people behind him in line to check out.

They said, "Somebody better find that ring or the world will blow up in 48 hours!"

The other responded, "Nobody can find it if they don't know the riddle!"

Ari, then asked, "Do you know the riddle?"

"Sure," they said. 

"There are two riddles and nobody has solved them!"

"We don't know the second riddle, but the first riddle is:

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?"

Ari realized that he was in the front of the line, so he checked out but before he left the two people in line they gave him their phone number.  Ari then left the store to go see the President of the United States.

Ari hopped on a plane and flew to Washington, D.C. to see the President.  When he landed he walked through the airport and found a taxi to take him to the White House.  When he got there, he was taken to the oval office to see the President.

"Good morning, Mr. President.  I have some information for you," said Ari.

And he told him all of the stuff that he had found out from the two people in line.

The President said, "Ari, you must find the last riddle and solve it in the next 46 hours."

Just then, the two people from line called Ari's cell phone and told him that they had more information.  They told Ari that the two riddles solve a mystery about a ring and that he must find a ring made out of gold.  They also suggested that the answers to the two riddles will tell you where the ring is!  The President overheard the cell phone conversation.

He said, "Ari, you must find that ring and save the world!!"

Explorer Ari was a great explorer.  One day he was in a grocery store and there were two people behind him in line to check out.

They said, "Somebody better find that ring or the world will blow up in 46 hours."  "Nobody can find it if they don't know the riddle!"

Ari asked, "Do you know the riddle?"

They answered, "Yes!"

Ari, then asked, "Can you tell me?"

"Sure," they said.  "There are two riddles and nobody has solved them!""We don't know the second riddle, but the first riddle is:

What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?

Ari realized that he was in the front of the line, so he checked out but before he left the two people in line gave him their phone number.   Ari then left the store to go see the President of the United States.

Ari hopped on a plane and flew to Washington, D.C. to see the President.  When he landed he walked through the airport and found a taxi to take him to the White House.  When he got there, he was taken to the oval office to see the President.

"Good Morning, Mr. President. "" I have some information for you," said Ari.

And he told them all of the stuff he found out from the two people from line.

The President said, "Ari, you must find the last riddle and solve it in the next 46 hours."

Just then, the two people from line called Ari's cell phone and said that they had found out some more information.  They told Ari that the two riddles solve a mystery about a ring and that he must find a ring made out of gold.  They also suggested that the answers to the two riddles tell you where the ring is.

The President overheard the cell phone conversation and said, "Ari, you must find that ring and save the world!"

The two people from line then called back and told Ari that he must go to the Amazon jungle to find the ring!

Ari couldn't wait for the adventure!  He loves adventures, even if the world was threatened to blow up if he didn't solve the mystery!  Ari said good bye to the President and headed off to the airport.  When he got there he found a small plane and asked to use it.  They gave him permission to use the plane!

He got on the plane and they flew him to the Amazon jungle. When he got there and walked off the plane he saw a rock with a letter on it.  He picked it up and saw that it had a riddle on it!  The riddle is:

This thing all things devour;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays Kings, ruins towns;
And beats high mountains down.

Ari took the riddle and went to his hotel and checked in.  He sat down on the bed and thought about the two riddles.  He said them over and over again.  Then suddenly it hit him. The first riddle answer was a mountain.  He went to the phone to call the two people from line about his news.

Ari said, "I know what the answer to the first riddle is!"

They answered, "Yeah, yeah, tell us!" "Yeah, yeah, tell us!" "And we have more news for you!" "You go first!"

Ari said, "The first riddle answer is a mountain."

The two people said, "You know what the second answer is?" "What is the riddle."

Ari told them the riddle.  He hung up and sat down on his bed thinking.  Finally, he looked at the clock and realized it was time for him to get ready for bed.  He crawled into bed and fell sound asleep.

Ari snored, "z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z!"

The next morning he woke to the phone ringing (ring, ring, ring).  He went to the phone and picked it up hoping it was the two people from line.  It was! 

The two people from line said in a very sad, sad, sad voice, "We have bad news and good news."  "The bad news is that the guy who is going to blow up the earth is called Scorpion Guy and his command center is inside a golden dragon."  "The golden dragon is inside a fire-breathing dragon that lives in China." "The good news is that if you find the ring it will kill the Scorpion Guy!"

And then the phone went dead.  Ari called them back and the phone just rang and rang and rang, but nobody answered.   He went and got a pencil and a piece of paper and sat down to write the two people from line a letter.  

Dear two people from line:

I hope that you are alright as I tried to call and you did not answer.  I am off to find the ring and the golden dragon.  Please wish me luck!  I am staying at the Yahtee Hotel in the Amazon Jungle.  You can reach me there.  My address is: 204 Thummer Street, Puerto Ranino, Amazon Jungle.  By the way, did I ever mention how much I love time?

Sincerely,
Ari the Explorer

As Ari mentioned the word time, he realized that it was the answer to the last riddle!  He went outside to find something to eat and he found another rock!  On that rock was another riddle.  At that moment his phone rang and it was the two people from line. 

They said, "There is another riddle and whatever the answer is it will help you find the ring."

Whoops, let's get back to the riddle on the rock!  The riddle is:

It does whatever you do, except that it does not speak

Ari continued to explore.  After an hour of walking he found a waterfall with a bench by it.  He ran and looked and he sat down on the bench and thought about the riddle.  He thought about it over and over and over again.  And then he looked down at a black shape behind him that did whatever he did...but it did not speak!  And it came to him, it was his shadow! 

He called the two people from line to tell them the information.  He decided to go and check at the Post Office to see if there was a letter waiting for him.  There was a letter waiting for him!  He picked it up and walked out of the post office and went back to the waterfall.  He sat on the bench to read his letter.  (SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH, SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH - sound of the waterfall) 

Dear Ari,

We got your letter and we are sorry we were not able to make contact as we were out looking for more information. "

Sincerely,
The Two People from Line

Then the letter ended. He started to walk around and he realized that the entrance to the mountain was behind the waterfall.  He started running with excitement in order to get to the entrance fast.  And then he jumped into the waterfall with all his clothes on! He swam through the waterfall and into a whole new world.

Behind the waterfall was all of his favorite flowers and animals.  He then saw a shadow of a ring with a line pointing to a podium with the ring on it.  He ran to the ring and placed it on his finger.  He quickly swam back through the waterfall and ran back to his hotel room.  The world was now one step closer to being a safer place.

He then checked out of his hotel room, went to the airport, and got a ticket to China. When Ari landed it was already dark.  He checked his watch and realized he needed to set it to the correct time zone in China.  Yikes, it was already midnight. The deadline for the world blowing up was getting close!

Ari checked into his hotel room and got a few hours of sleep.  The next morning he set out to find the dragon.  First, he asked around where dragons like to hang out.  He didn't get any answers because he didn't speak Chinese!  And everybody else did!  He went back to his hotel because the front desk clerk spoke English.  He told Ari that the most popular dragon spots were in the mountains. So, Ari headed out for the mountains.

As he was hiking, a rock fell and Ari tripped.  He needed to find a walking path up the mountain.  He looked around and found a walking path.  On the path he started smelling something really bad. When he turned a corner Ari found a dead dragon blocking his way.  He quickly took out his Swiss Army knife from his pocket and started to skin the dragon.  After an hour of working, Ari was done skinning the dragon.  And then from the under dragon's skin the golden dragon shined in the sunlight.  Ari dropped his knife and laid down for about 30 minutes to rest.

He then found a small door in the golden dragon and opened it.  Inside was the scorpion's command center!  Ari then heard clapping from around the corner.  It kept getting louder and louder.  And then the Scorpion guy appeared.  He looked like a scorpion - very scary!  Though Ari wasn't sure he was a real scorpion because he was so large and scorpions are pretty small.   Ari showed the Scorpion man the ring that he had found and the Scorpion man started to shrink.  He shrunk so small that he turned into a regular scorpion. At the same time, the command center turned to dust.

Ari realized that the world was safe once more!  He called the two people from line and he told them all the good news.  Ari then caught a plane back to the United States and told the President all of the good news.  So, now...Ari the Explorer is considered famous!

THE END