Treasure Hunt

The moment I finished digging into my backyard I went from feeling thrilled and wishful to sheer panic and shock as my whole body got numb and my mind froze cold. My hand let go of the shovel. I knew I had moments left before it took over. My final thoughts of just observing the world around me and trying to fathom what I had unleashed. Was this even possible? The ping of the shovel hitting the stone path beside my freshly dug hole snapped me out of my daze. The midnight air breezed through my hair one last time. I felt stuck in place I couldn’t move because something had already grabbed me. Inch by inch I felt my whole being disappearing in place. Up from my muddied shoes this feeling crawled up me. I felt it up my legs, then up across my chest and down over my arms. It reached my neck, it all happened so fast, only moments ago I had just dug all the dirt away and punctured a wooden box with the shovel and now I am ceasing to exist. I knew that was happening because in my last moment I looked down and I saw nothing about me, a shadow came out of the box I hit and in return had transformed me. I was disappearing and in my place floating to the ground where I once stood something was materializing. I saw my treasure, the treasure was real.

Three Days Earlier….

A loud but well accomplished thud surrounded the kitchen as I put the last box from the moving truck on the kitchen table. A day full of moving, sweat all over my face and a bright and hopeful smile washed over me. My family and I just moved to a suburban area outside of Calgary. My husband had started a business about 5 years ago and he has done well for himself, enough so that we could move out of our apartment and buy a house in a neighbourhood full of houses that radiated happy families and smelled of baked goods from all the baking being done. Lots of kids played along the streets and on each of the houses grassy green lawns. My daughter would be happy and so would my husband. I was still a bit unsure. I mean I chose to move out here but I always craved more. Deep down I wanted luxury. I wanted to buy $2000 sunglasses just because I could and buy the most expensive bottle of wine and savour it because I could. My husband provided us well and all our needs were taken care of but there was never more for just me and my fantasies. I never spoke out loud my fantasies but every so often I would allow myself to dream.

Over the next few days we all scrambled joyfully to unpack and prepare ourselves to continue living life as we were. Our daughter would go to school on Monday and my husband would drive into the city for work. Me, well I will get to stay and enjoy the house, I will cook meals and clean, and I presume I will walk around the new neighbourhood and see if I meet anyone. I was an artist as well. In this new house of ours I had a big and bright space to fill it with my supplies and get to work on a whim. My painting easel fit right in the corner between two windows. The view looked out over the streets. I felt truly happy. I will paint and continue advancing my skills. I always have hopes that one day I will be able to sell my paintings for $20000. I believed in my work, it provoked beauty and intelligence. I like to believe that much in myself and my art anyways.

That night I would get to enjoy the bathtub. It too was surrounded by windows. I loved windows in a home dearly. Bathtub filled with hot water and foaming with bubbles, My rose sitting on the tubs edge waiting for me to sip it. It is time. I undress, my silk blouse and dark blue jeans slide off me in glee. My lingerie comes off too quickly after. I look in the mirror and smile. I dimmed the lights and lit all ten candles. The ambiance is perfect and I feel fully relaxed. I grabbed a towel and laid it on the stool by the tub. I step into the tun and submerge under the hot water and feel all my senses tingle instantly. This is my favourite part of the day. I sit up after and reach for my wine. BANG! I knocked it over and it shattered all of the floor. This was the first time I have ever knocked over my wine. I have never spilled wine before. I am laughing a bit. My husband knocks and peeps in asking if I am alright. I ask him for more wine and he kindly obliges. What a good man. I bend over the edge to see the damage of the spill and something catches my eye. In the corner of the bathroom I see a book. Interesting, I wonder why it is there. Of course it was not mine and my husband wouldnt have a book in the washroom. I mean he has his own office for all his books. I have to check this out. My only conclusion is that it was left behind from the old owners. From afar it looks like an address book or a standard notebook. It is dark and small. My husband comes in as I am stepping out to investigate the book. I don't notify him that I see it. I just take the new glass of wine from his hands. He gives me a kiss and offers to clean up the mess. I gently decline. It can be cleaned up after I am done with my bath. I had enough disturbance and wanted to get back to relaxing. As soon as he left I walked over and picked up the book. Small, Black and dusty. A bit creepy in my opinion due to the intricate markings on the cover. I grab some toilet paper and wipe off the dust. It also has a ribbon as a placeholder. I placed it in the magazine basket by the cabinet as I wasn't too interested anymore.

I couldn’t enjoy my bath. My attention was actually on that book, I wondered what it was all about. The mystery took over me so I ended my bath and grabbed it once more. I untied the ribbon and opened it up. Now I confirm that it is old. The pages have gotten brittle, the colour was a pale yellow. My attention darts to the middle of the page, there are dulled red dotted lines that curve over the page and it ends with a big “X”. Is this a treasure map? I touch the page and my hands shiver and I gasp because I felt a spark rush up my hand through to my heart. What a weird sensation to be having. I think to myself that this must be a children's book, must've come up with an imaginary treasure hunt and drawn it in, this book has no interest for me. But as soon as I try and close it I feel hypnotized. I keep staring at the markings on the page. I look closer. At the bottom of the page there are coordinates lightly hand written. My husband walks in again and I feel myself shaking and I snap myself out of the trance I had towards that book. He just came in to see if I had enough wine still. Luckily he wasn't phased by my weird behavior over this book. I was wanting to not tell anyone what I had discovered.

He left quickly and I whispered to myself what the page also said. Beside the coordinates was written, “follow the stone path and find your desired treasure”. Next to that was a blank line, insinuating that I must write my desire. I stormed into the bedroom and grabbed a pen. I wrote $20000. This made me laugh and I felt silly. I was a dreamer but I never wrote it down before! If this book wants to give me money then so be it. I also looked up the coordinates and to my surprise it was this house. My house has treasure buried. They should've had that in the listings description. Deep down inside I knew it was time to throw this book out.

I woke in the middle of the night abruptly, I was dreaming intensely. I couldn't remember but as soon as I came to my senses all I could think about was that treasure map. My mind felt spelled and I had to find the treasure I had to follow the map and take the treasure. The book told me to write what I want and I would just have to dig it up. My husband heard me. I told him I had to find the treasure. I heard his sexy laugh as he told me I was just dreaming. Maybe I was but my only instinct was to go on a treasure hunt. I felt a desire rumble as I grabbed the book from the waste paper basket, opened it back up and started walking towards the back door. A shovel stood by the shed next to the back door. I also grabbed a flashlight. Ready to start my spontaneous adventure I looked back and forth between the book and the backyard. This was going to be easy, There wasa stone path leading from the patio out into the back right corner of the yard. Exactly where I needed to be. I took a step forward and I felt a hand grab my shoulder. My husband stopped me and asked me to come back to bed. He was confused about my actions. A rush of darkness took over and next thing I knew I lifted the shovel up higher and swung it around. BANG! My husband dropped to the ground, he was trying to stop me from getting my treasure so he had to be stopped.

The ‘X’ was right where the last stone was. I set everything down and with the light shining on the spot I dug and dug and dug with excitement and determination. THUNK! After that nothing else mattered because the spell lifted and I felt conscious enough to know that I unwillingly followed a treasure map located in the backyard of my new family home, and I knocked my husband out because he was trying to stop me. I was bewitched by the ink that embedded the worn yellowed page, it made me hungry for satisfaction. My only reasoning was that as soon as I touched the page with the map, that spark I felt sent darkness into me and I had to obey it. This book was supernatural. I went on a silly treasure hunt because of it and I got nothing but dirt and rubble, fear and chills. I know my time is almost up, this was all a trick made by some evil, I was tempted with desire and it drew me into its trap.

Inch by inch my whole being disappearing in place. I took one last look though as the forceful feeling reached my neck. I looked down and it must've been magic because in my place were many, many $20 bills floating down into a prominent pile. I knew that it was $20,000, the treasure was real. I shed a tear of joy and despair at the same time. The deviled book gave me what I wanted. It didn't matter though because in any second now I would not be real.