Many, many years ago, there was a great city called Timbuktu. It was a mysterious city nobody had ever seen, but everyone knew it existed.
Timbuktu had tall buildings, a great market, and lots of people. But one day, something strange happened. The city started to slowly disappear.
Nobody knew what was happening, but soon the city was gone. All that was left was a big pile of sand. People searched high and low, but they never found the town again. However, the legend of Timbuktu still lives on, and people still hope it will be found one day.