Aedan's Story - 7. Chapter 7: The Treasure

At dinner that night we ate some of the fish we caught. After the sun went down, Jake and I headed out, grabbing a couple flashlights from the laundry room after I had changed into a pair of shorts. "Where are you boys going?" Mr. Grant asked.

"Oh, we're just going for a walk to enjoy the beach at night," Jake said, which wasn't a total lie.

"Alright. Just be back before midnight," Mrs. Grant waved.

Jake opened the garage door from the driveway. "There's some supplies in here we may need."

"Like what?" I asked, stepping into the dark garage.

"This," Jake held up a bucket. Inside were those toy beach shovels and sand castle molds.

I stifled a laugh. "Seriously? Bro, those are TOYS!"

"If we have to dig..." Jake picked up a couple toy shovels. "They will be needed."

We made our way to the whale bone area of the beach. "We can find it faster if we split up," I suggested, taking a mini-shovel.

"Ok. Nice idea, bro," Jake nodded.

I kicked off my sandals and rolled up my jeans before stepping into the ankle-deep water. The high tide had submerged most of the area. The whale's bones were sticking out of the water and provided plenty of hiding spots. We searched for a while, but couldn't find anything.

"I think this is the wrong spot," I sighed.

"Yeah... why would this guy bury his treasure in water?"

"Maybe we should check the dry sand instead," I reasoned. Jake agreed and we began digging higher up on the beach.

After a while of digging and searching, I began to get tired. "Dude, come on, I give up. This treasure was probably found ages ago by someone else."

"Aedan, we'll find it. It just takes some time." Jake reassured me.

I sighed. "Fine..."

We continued digging and searching for another half hour. "Jake, come on, let's go home. It's getting late."

"We need to find this," Jake insisted. "Come on, Aedan."

"No. I'm done," I huffed. "I can't believe I got my hopes up. Me... having money? Pffft." I kicked the sand at my bare feet. "It never was gonna happen. Let's just go back."

"No, Aedan, you DESERVE that money, and we're gonna get it..." Jake demanded, and grabbed my arm before I walked off.

"You want us to stay out here all night looking?" I shrugged.

"The next place to check is that sand dune," Jake pointed at a dune about 15 feet away. "You go check it. I need a water break." I rolled my eyes and grabbed a shovel. Digging through sand with beach toy shovels isn't an easy task for sure. My muscles got sore after a while. Sand is heavier than it looks. Jake came over to help me and we uncovered a cave going down into the rocks and cliffs. Jake, being skinnier than me, went in first to clear more sand so I could fit in.

"How did you know this was the right sand dune?" I asked, pulling off my sweatshirt and t-shirt to climb into the cave.

"That's assuming the treasure is inside this cave." Jake reached the bottom. He had left his sweatshirt, flip flops, and shirt at the top, as did I. The bottom of the cave had water in it. Likely from the tides washing in through the sand.

"You didn't answer me," I mentioned, my bare feet standing in the cool knee deep water. "How did you know this sea cave was here?"

"Let's just keep looking," Jake shrugged. The cave was pretty cool. Some salt crystals were on the rocky walls.

"The water is rising..." I said, noticing it was now slightly above my knees.

"Yeah, it's a full moon. The tide is rising," Jake said.

"I can't drown in here..." I drawled.

"Yo, Aedan," Jake pointed up. "I see the treasure! It's still up there."

"Still?" I asked. The water nearly up to my waist. "Jake... what's going on?"

"Dude, let's just get the treasure," Jake pointed with his thumb. The cave was lit by our flashlights and a little bit of moonlight coming in through a hole in the ceiling.

"How?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"That ledge is only six feet up," Jake said. "We can climb that. Not very steep, bro."

"Yeah. I could easily climb that." I nodded, putting my hands on my hips. "We should go before the sea traps us in here." The water was up to my belly button and my nascent abs. "I'll go first," I said, walking up to the rocks. The water there was a bit shallower... only about knee deep.

"Be careful, the rocks may be slippery," Jake said. He stood behind me to catch me if I fell. The rock wall above the water wasn't slippery, and I climbed up to the sandy ledge. I then helped Jake up, as he was rather light by comparison. "Thanks," Jake sighed. He sat on the sand and grabbed a small box. "Here it is."

"Sweet," I removed the latch of the small wooden box. "This is pretty clean for a box that's been sitting in a salty sea cave for 98 years," I smirked.

"Yeah, weird," Jake rubbed the back of his neck. I looked inside and saw some gold coins. I smiled. I picked one up.

"Wait... this is just plastic..." my jaw dropped. Jake blushed. "There's a note..." I looked it over. Hey, Aedan, I know this may surprise you, but this treasure isn't real. I created this scavenger hunt to do together as friends. You're awesome, dude, and I hope the scavenger hunt was fun. Your best friend –Jake

"Aedan..." Jake reached out and put his hand on my shoulder after a minute.

"No..." I said, my voice trembling. "Why did you trick me?! I just wanted a fun beach trip with my best friend."

"And you got that..." Jake smiled. "This was just a fun scavenger hunt. Did you actually think we were going to find ten thousand bucks?"

"Well, you got my hopes up," I sighed.

"How about we go back to the house and watch a movie?" Jake offered. I nodded.

"How are we getting out of here?" I asked. "In case you forgot, I can't swim."

"We have to swim out, okay. It's not any more than four feet deep." Thankfully the wooden box and flashlights were waterproof. Jake climbed down first. The water was up to his bare chest, nearly to his shoulders. "Dude, come on," The warm sea water greeted my feet again as I stepped into the water. Jake grabbed my hand. I blushed a little.

The blond boy guided me over to the exit tunnel. We quickly followed it up to the sandy beach, grabbed our stuff and walked back.

We got to the beach house at around 1AM. We rinsed off the sand before coming in, with me covering my torso with a towel again..

"There you boys are…" Mr Grant sighed when we entered. "Why are you out at 1am?"

"Sorry, dad, I… we… were finishing up a scavenger hunt. I'm sorry we're late."

"Just… go to bed. Neither of you can go out at night anymore. Understood?"

"Yessir," I nodded.

After showering in silence, Jake and I talked a bit before going to sleep. "Ugh… I'm sorry about my dad. He can be strict sometimes."

"Don't worry about it." I turned off the lamp and rolled over onto my stomach to fall asleep.