The Alchemist

The Alchemist
By Paulo Coelho
Read in 8th grade
A shepherd boy roams the plains and hillside of Europe. He is a town one day when he decides to see a fortune teller. She tells him that a treasure awaits him, and another man he meets gives him instruction to go to the Egyptian pyramids to follow his Personal Legend. Upon arriving in Africa, he is immediately struck by misfortune, losing all his money. However, the omens intervene, and he finds himself working for a crystal merchant to make money. He learns to read the omens while he is in Africa, making a fortune and incidentally joining a caravan to Egypt. On the way, he stops in the oasis of Al-Fayoum because of a tribal war. He meets his true love, Fatima there. However, he is drawn away from her to complete his Personal Legend by the Alchemist, the fabled man who can live forever and turn lead into gold.
When at long last, he arrives at the Pyramids, he follows the omens from the Soul of the World to where his treasure should be. But it's not there. He is assaulted by a man who apparently had a recurring dream telling him to find treasure where the boy's adventure all started. And such, the boy learns, is the way the Soul of the World works.