Greed to Redemption

As the dull evening sun shot beams of light through poorly made attic window Sean continued to run through his late grandfather’s old boxes of stuff. Sean’s life had become almost as miserable as their poorly maintained residence in Louisiana, sagged under the weight of neglect, passers by on the street in front of it would assume that it had been forgotten by time itself. It’s windows which were once clear portals to the world beyond, were now just mere pieces of shattered glass. The smell of aging wood dominated the surrounding atmosphere as if to hide the corrosion which had consumed the metal parts of the building. Despite its flaws and the deteriorated conditions, Sean and his family dearly addressed it as HOME.

“There’s no treasure Sean, stop messing up the attic” the annoyed voice of his father would constantly echo through his ears. He would casually disregard them as he viewed his father as one of the main reasons his life was a mess. Their already miserable home became an unwitting stage for unwelcomed visitors, drawn like moths to a flame. The father’s sins entangled in a web of illicit affaires, casting a dark shadow over their lives. These men, emissaries of debt and danger, would arrive at their doorstep, their threats echoing through the corridors.

Yet, he put these in instances in the back of his mind and focused on escaping the sad reality which he had inherited.

Even now the indelible memories of his grandfather linger in the corners of his mind, like movie shown in a theatre, each frame etched with love, laughter and wisdom.

He spoke of great treasure buried within a world unknown. He had put countless hours and effort into it, but in vain. And now the only reminders of grandpa’s adventures were a map and letter to his beloved grandson, whom took it as his duty to fulfill the task which his beloved grandfather had started.

With lofty aspirations of finding grandpa’s treasure, he hastily fled the house on an uneventful Tuesday morning, completely disregarding the panicked state his parents will soon face.

After arriving at the first destination which was a rather barren beachside, He stood at the water’s edge, his gaze stretching across the expanse of the mesmerizing azure sea. Regret gnawed at him, for he had once made a selfish choice. But now, resolute, he vowed to uncover that hidden fortune. Wealth awaited him in a place yet to be discovered.

He took a glance at his map, “FORTUNE AWAITES IN YOUR RIGHT SIDE”. Sean’s head instinctively turned to his right; his grandfather was signaling him to enter the cave that resided in the right side of the beach kind of hidden away from the sight of beach-goers.

Despite initially hesitating, the inexorable pull of curiosity and the obsession of finding something that will enable you to live an unimaginably comfortable lifestyle and escape the life of constant fear and poverty compelled him to venture into the shadowy depths of the forbidden cave.

After first setting foot in the cave a chill ran through his spine, a sense of overwhelming dread engulfed him, his mind flooded with thoughts of how this journey could go wrong and yet he reminded himself of the wealthy lifestyle and how he could leave his half-deteriorated house in Louisiana and replace it with a mansion, if he found this treasure. He tips- toed through the narrow and winding stretch of cave, with its ceiling almost touching his head. He thought of how this cave could give nightmares to a person with claustrophobia and how much of MAN he was to have no fear of the dangers which lurked within the cave or the haunted nature of the cave itself.

Finally, he found himself standing Infront of some kind of door, which Sean pushed open with no effort. However, he was not prepared for what he was about to stumble upon. It was a temple of some kind carved out of the cave. It had depictions of various animals on it’s walls with small beams of sun light dimly illuminating the area, it had an eerie feel to it.

With his body shivering from fear Sean reached the end of the temple. There lays a small bench, appearing to be made out of stone and it had some kind of button on it. His mind overflowing with thoughts of curiosity Sean was compelled to push the button. To his utter bewilderment the cave started to violently shake, and eventually a hidden passageway hidden within the caverns was revealed.

 Sean started walking down the passageway yet again to be met with unidentifiable illustrations of mythical creatures poorly carved on the sides of the cave.

In that moment, weariness draped itself around him like a heavy velvet cloak, urging him to surrender to its embrace and rest wherever fate would allow. However, his eyes began to glimmer with hope as he glanced at a small wooden box lying untouched in the far corner of the passage. Instinctively, he cheerfully sprinted towards it praying to God that he had found the treasure, indeed his prayers were answered.

After delicately lifting the wooden lid, the box unfurled its secrets—a trove of opulence. Gleaming golden jewelry, diamonds and emeralds whispered tales of forgotten civilizations cradling Sean’s heart in a cocoon of joy.

And there was something else in the box. It was a letter. It read,

           “Dear Sean if you are reading this you have found the treasure, that I had spent so many years trying to find. Of course, I found it myself but, what would and 79-year-old man with cancer do with a treasure? And if I even if I handed it over to your parents, it would probably get stolen by those guys whom your father owes unreasonable amount of debt to. Now I want you to spend the money wisely. And DON’T ever use it for the bad of another person. It will haunt you forever.                                                      

                                                                                                                       Love,

                                                                                                                       Grandpa

His tears fell freely now, Sean understood—the treasure was not only diamonds and gold but also the ache of missing, the joy of remembrance. His grandfather’s legacy, woven into the fabric of time, embraced him.

Filled with ambivalent emotions; the sheer joy from finding the treasure and grieving from reading his last massage from his beloved grandfather, Sean ran like child in search of his mother through the passageway past the temple and eventually back to the cave entrance.

However, another surprise which wasn’t so pleasant awaited him right at the entrance to the cave. When he pressed that button in temple, whatever mechanism that allowed to open the passageway had violently shaken the whole cave. As a result, the cave entrance had collapsed completely blocking off the only known way out from the cave.

When Sean arrived at the scene, he was beyond devastated. He frantically began to look for something to break open the entrance. When he found nothing, he instantly realized that he was going to meet his demise right there in that lonely cave, trapped with his own thoughts.

He sat down, thought about how an obsession could lead to disaster;

But there was no turning back now.

He also thought about how much more of a pain it would be for his parents; the loss of their only child. How their life would become twice as more as sad and depressing as it was before;

But there was no turning back now.

His thoughts reminding him of how he could’ve focused more on his studies, and made his life successful, pulling him and his parents out of the deep gorge their father had gotten them into.

But there was no turning back now.

With his newfound love for his family and appreciation for the little things he had, Sean silently sobbed as the unfortunate reality of dying alone sunk him in a sea of sadness.

Although it would eventually become his final resting place, Sean went for one last walk in the cave, or so he thought. As he was walking along the cave he caught glimpse a tunnel on the left side of the cave, and he realized that it leads right up to the beach.

Once again engulfed in excitement he gleefully ran the short distance up to the beach and was eventually home.

Once his arrival at his home Sean was met with police officers and flashing red and blue lights. He quietly hid the extraordinary reward he gained from his unforgetting adventure, in an overgrown shrub. He was met with the utmost bewildered looks of everyone. His father came charging out of the house and hugged him warmly as if whispering to him how hurt he was. His mother came out still sobbing.  However, his answer to everyone’s confused questions, including the relatives who were also at his house, was “I went looking for grandpa’s treasure, didn’t find it”.

Few hours after the departure of most his relatives and answering many questions for the police officers, Sean quietly went to the bush where he hid his treasure chest. He grabbed the chest, ran back to his room put it in his closet and locked it.

“What’s that?” one of his uncles hadn’t left and had saw him locking the chest in his closet.

 “Nothing”

Sean was beyond relived to see his uncle leave the room. He knew that if his uncle found out he’d want it so badly.

Unlike his father Sean’s uncle was involved in more serious, unforgivable crimes. With drug trafficking and ransom being his most notable crimes.

Grateful for the preservation of his life, Sean retired to his bed. Little did he know that the morning would bring forth yet another disquieting revelation.

It was a cheerful morning, the mellifluous sound of chirping rhythmically flowing to his ear, bright beams of sunlight illuminating what was once the room of a sad, depressed teenager, Sean glided through the hallway with excitement.

Greeting everyone with an enchanting smile and a gleeful “Goood… morning” he went straight to the hiding place of his treasure.

However, his euphoric emotions faded out of existence as he opened the closet doors. His treasure, the reminder of his secret adventure, the way he could escape his reality – was GONE.

After few hours of frantically searching for it, he realized that it was gone. FOREVER. And he knew who had taken it away from its righteous owner. His uncle.

When Sean inquired his mother about his uncle, she stated that his uncle wore a big smile on his face and said that he’ll move to a different state.

 Anyone would go as far as they can to get back something so valuable, something that they risked their life to get right?

NO, Sean was not ready to go after the treasure again. His uncle was a powerful man he could easily take down Sean with his criminal buddies. Sean was not about to risk his life again for the treasure.

In a matter of five years Sean turned his life around. He was a well-known student in Harvard university. And his father had paid all the debt he owed to the thugs he had worked with. Sean’s life seemed to have heeled itself. And after a long time there seemed to be peace in Sean’s household.

One unassuming day they received an envelope with cash inside. It was from Sean’s uncle; to see the reason he had randomly decided to send money to them, Sean’s confused parents called him. But, no answer.

Again, they received money the other day. And again. And again, until they had more than 20 million dollars.

Yet no one has seen him or had any type of interaction with him since the day he first started sending money. And then 2 weeks later they heard that Sean’s uncle had sadly passed away in fatal car crash.

Such an odd chain of events. Everyone thought it was strange but nobody knew the secret behind it. Except for Sean, he remembered his grandfather’s words “if you will do a person bad things with the treasure it will haunt you forever.”