More Precious Than Gold!!!

The water was thick with vibrantly colored fish, as I sat on the bottom in deep soft sand, I gazed up and a giant upturned box of crayons came to mind. The way the sun played on the waves was beautiful but my attention was on holding my breath while I watched for the two sharks I knew were searching for me. If only my bathing suit were tan, not white with little pink rosebuds , then I might blend in with the sandy ocean bottom.

Not far away there was a deep inky canyon. I would have to swim over that to get to safety, and I was fairly certain that something more sinister than sharks lurked there. I felt brave enough to go for it, even a bit fool-hardy, but I had a reputation to maintain and some serious thought must occur before action ensued.

A large dark shadow above me interrupted my contemplation and my heart beat an alarm. Not sharks...just an island of seaweed and perhaps my salvation. I slowly stood up swaying in rhythm with the strands of seaweed that had begun to fall around me. I took hold of a strand and cautiously pulled myself up until I became a part of the house sized mass. While breathing the air from the bulbous ends of seaweed, I floated over the chasm, casting a tangled shadow on the ocean floor while moving closer to the little island that was my destination.

I called it Island X because it didn't exist on any map except the one I possessed, and on which was no label other than a little red X. It was rumored that on this island was to be found a rare treasure, rich enough to last a life time.

I had come upon my currant predicament while I was parachuting down to my mysterious island. Mischievous winds had caught me up to play a game of tether ball and since I was the ball it would have been rude to refuse. When they were finished I was quite off my course and like a giant air born jellyfish I floated with the tide of air, at it's mercy to be washed ashore or sent to sea. Descending, I spied the two sharks and they were obviously aware of me too, for they swam to intercept me with impossibly big gaping mouths. Dry land was unreachable now so with a quick swipe of my knife I released the chute and it fell over the sharks, obscuring from them, my dive to the bottom.

Releasing myself from the seaweed I now began to swim for shore with arms spinning faster than a windmill in a hurricane and feet paddling harder than a stern wheeler going upstream. I felt a sharks cold fishy breath on my backside as I ran onto shore and then turned to laugh at their missed opportunity. Surprisingly the sharks began to laugh too! Seeing sharks laugh with all those teeth made me laugh even more, they were so silly looking, sharks were just not made to laugh after all. We all laughed so hard that our sides ached and one of the sharks got the hiccups. We continued to laugh until we all began to cry and our tears raised the ocean high enough that my island began to float away and the sharks, still giggling, agreed to push it home for me.

Oh! and the treasure! It was laying right out in the open and I have it to this day. Can you guess what it is?

As kids my brothers and I would play "under the sea", jumping from bed to bed in our underwear, performing deeds of daring-do in impossible situations until we collapsed in laughter. I remember thinking at the time that I would never forget this especially merry moment and I never have....a treasure more precious than gold!