Why My Brother And I Are Searching For Buried Treasure

9:15 AM

Sitting at my desk, my eyes dart back and forth between the huge stack of papers and the dozens of unread emails.

I don’t want to do any of this.

The monotony of office life had been weighing on me lately. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my carrier and where I’m headed in life, I need to do more.

I’m in my 30s and don’t even own my own house. I work for a respectable company making a good living, yet I’m just barely getting by, and I hate every second of it.

Is this what I have been working for all this time?

I listened to my teachers who said if I studied and got good grades, I’ll get a good job and make lots of money. I listened to college professors who gave me tips on how to navigate the master’s program. I graduated top of my class. I received a great job and get paid well.

But who cares?

Is this rat race all it’s cracked up to be?

I have a fancy car and rent a big house, why am I still not happy?

More importantly, is getting a promotion going to improve my life?

Probably not.

As I sit there hating my life, the phone rings.

“Is this Sam Smith?” “Yes” I responded “We regret to inform you, your father has passed away.” “Are you sure?” “Yes, he left something for you and your brother.” “Something in his will?” “Not exactly, your father didn’t leave a will, he left a treasure map.” “A treasure map” I exclaimed, “ what do you mean?”

The nice lady at the probate office filled me in on the details.

It turns out our dad had a rough time in his later life. After decades of hard work and hard living, his mind had deteriorated.

His body was just as strong and able as ever, that is what caused the problem.

Our dad had the physical ability to function normally, but not enough brainpower to do so intelligently.

Somehow in the haze of his golden years, he came to fancy himself a pirate. Yes, a swashbuckling pirate.

After retiring he became enamored with pirates and moved to Key West to pursue his dream of finding buried treasure.

He never found any treasure, now it was up to my brother and me.

Before our father died he turned his life savings into gold doubloons and subsequently buried the treasure. Leaving my brother and me a treasure map and a compass.

I was blown away by the news and stood there silently trying to process what I had just heard.

After 10 minutes of stunned silence, I decided to call my brother to let him know the news.

My brother and I don’t talk much, not because we don’t get along, we’re just two different people. I chose the straight and narrow path in life and he chose the road less traveled.

I still love my brother but can only handle him in small batches.

“Tommy, hey how are you.” “Not bad” he grumbled. “I have some bad news.”

My dad and brother were always closer than my dad and me, so I was worried about how he would take the news.

He was devastated.

After a few minutes of consoling him, and calming him down, I dropped the news.

“So there is something about the will.” “How much did he leave us?” “I’m not sure, we have to find it.” “What do you mean?” “He turned our inheritance into gold and buried the treasure somewhere. He left us with a treasure map and a compass. We have to go to Key West to try and find it.”

My brother perked up, I could hear the excitement in his voice.

“Go to Key West and be pirates? That’s awesome I can’t wait!”

This news seemed to inspire my brother which made me more reluctant to go. I already didn’t want to go to Key West and find this dumb treasure in the first place.

Now I have to deal with my idiot brother thinking he’s Captain Jack Sparrow the whole time.

It’s going to be a long weekend.

Here is another story I wrote if you want to read more.