Captain Finn was eleven years old and the proud owner of one boat, one compass, and approximately zero sense of direction.
It was on a perfectly ordinary Tuesday that Finn's boat drifted off course and landed on an island that appeared on no map.
The island was extraordinary. Trees grew upside-down, their roots waving in the breeze like green fingers. Waterfalls flowed upward. And the sand was a brilliant shade of purple.
"Hello!" called a voice.
Finn spun around. Sitting on a rock was a small creature with enormous ears, emerald-green skin, and a smile so wide it nearly fell off its face.
"I'm Pip," said the creature. "And you're the first human to visit in three hundred years."
"Why so long?" asked Finn.
Pip's smile flickered. "We took ourselves off the maps. We were afraid of being found."
Finn looked at the beautiful island — the upside-down trees, the rainbow waterfalls, the purple sand. "But this place is wonderful. Shouldn't everyone see it?"
Pip thought for a very long time.
That evening, sitting by a fire that burned blue, Finn and Pip made a deal. Finn would tell the world that the island was a kind and peaceful place. And Pip's people would add themselves back to one map — just one — for brave and curious explorers to find.
When Finn finally sailed home, he looked back at the island shimmering in the mist.
He took out his compass, then put it away.
Some things are worth finding again. And the best adventures, he had learned, begin the moment you drift off course.