Chapter 1: The One With the Map That Wasn’t There Yesterday

Crafteria was the kind of place where trees wore mittens in winter and lollipops sometimes grew by accident if the wind blew sweetly enough.

It was magical — not the loud kind, but the quiet kind you only noticed when you stopped to look. The sun often shone in colours it had no business shining in, and the clouds, if you squinted hard enough, looked suspiciously like they were gossiping.

And in the middle of all that lived a cardboard box named Boxy.

Not a box inside something. Not a delivery box. Just… Boxy.
Softly squared, slightly dented, and completely confused.

You see, Boxy had woken up one day under a mossy tree in the middle of nowhere — with no memory, no name tag, and a pair of googly eyes that blinked when he was puzzled, which, for the record, was frequently.

He didn’t know how he’d come to be, or why he had arms made from pipe cleaners and feet that went squonk when he walked.
He just was.

There was no grand introduction.
No lightning bolt.
No owl with a letter.
Just Boxy… and the feeling that something important was missing.

Something big.
Something worth squonking towards.

For days, Boxy wandered the soft hills and papergrass fields of Crafteria, hoping for answers or at the very least a decent sandwich.

Instead, he found a map.

It was pinned under a curious rock (curious because it had a monocle and a moustache carved into it) and it buzzed slightly when Boxy touched it — like it was humming to itself.

On the front, in shimmering, wibbly gold lettering, were the words:

BOXY’S STICKER QUEST
Level 1: The Mysterious Lands

Below that was a winding trail, dotted with 9 golden circles, and a note at the bottom:

Complete the quest. Collect the stickers.
Find out who you really are.

Boxy blinked.
“Oh,” he said aloud.
He looked left.
He looked right.
“No one else here, huh? Guess it’s just me and the map, then.”

And with that, Boxy strapped on a green backpack he didn’t remember packing, squonked once for good luck, and took his first step.

The trail led into the edge of the Mysterious Lands — a forest where the trees bent inwards like they were listening, and small creatures skittered just out of view, always exactly when you looked.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Which is, of course, when something made a noise.

“Blerg.”

Boxy froze.

“BLERG!” came the noise again, louder this time, followed by the unmistakeable sound of something slipping on a banana peel.

A moment later, a creature burst from the bushes.

It had big eyes, six socks (not on feet — just... carried), and a frown that could curdle yoghurt.

“YOU!” the creature yelled. “ARE LATE!”

Boxy blinked. “I am?”

“Yes! Or early. Possibly irrelevant! But definitely confusing!” the creature snapped. “Did you bring the glue stick of prophecy?”

“I… brought a spoon,” Boxy offered.

The creature looked Boxy up and down, sniffed, and with a dramatic sigh muttered, “It’ll have to do.”

It vanished in a puff of glitter that smelled vaguely of pickles.

Boxy stood for a moment, mouth slightly open. Then he looked down at the map.

PING.

One of the circles lit up. A glowing sticker hovered in the air and gently floated down onto the sheet, landing in its first spot with a proud plop.

Boxy stared.
“Okay,” he whispered. “So we’re doing this.”

Hours passed, or maybe minutes — time was a slippery thing in Crafteria — and Boxy made his way across creaky bridges, glowing mushrooms, and at one point, an abandoned picnic blanket guarded by ants in bowler hats.

With each new discovery — a singing pebble, a leaf that sneezed when picked up — another sticker appeared, each one more sparkly than the last.

And slowly, something strange happened.

Boxy felt… lighter. Not in weight, but in wonder.

Each sticker felt like it filled a gap. A missing puzzle piece.

And that’s when he saw it.

At the top of a hill stood a tree unlike the others — enormous, ancient, with bark that shimmered like foil and roots shaped like stars.

There was a platform nestled in its branches, and at the centre…
a glowing chest.

Boxy climbed.

The steps were made of stacked books, the kind with titles like “Unicorn Etiquette” and “The History of Buttons, Vol. III.”

At the top, the chest opened with a creak.

Inside, there was no treasure — not gold, not sweets, not socks.

Just another map.
And a note.

Well done, Boxy.
You’ve completed Level 1.
You’ve proven you’re ready for more.
Stickers are not just decorations. They are memories. Proof of your choices.
There are more levels. More secrets. And somewhere out there… the truth about who you are.
The world is bigger than you think.

Boxy took the map. This one shimmered with icy symbols, snowy peaks, and what looked like a very cold yeti wearing sunglasses.

He smiled.

He didn’t know where the journey was leading.

But he knew one thing now, deep in his crinkly chest:

He was made for something.

And he was going to find out what…