I had a unique childhood. Each summer, while other kids were going to camps and playing games with neighbourhood friends, I was on an island looking for sunken treasure. I mean that literally.

My sisters and I got to go to this magical place we predictably gifted the name, “The Island.”

True to its island nature, it was surrounded by water (and other little islands) and only accessible by boat. My mom would shop ahead of time, filling boxes and boxes with enough dry groceries to last us a month, and once we arrived, we (my sisters and I) became island kids.

Other visitors would come and go throughout the summer, but we stayed, content to exist on The Island for as long as we could.

Our toes were bloodied from numerous stubs on the rocks, our skin was dark brown from exposure to the sun, and our faces wore exhausted smiles from our endless adventures together.We caught bugs, tadpoles and fish, avoided poisonous snakes, built forts out of driftwood, watched sunsets and shooting stars, and we swam, and swam, and swam…and swam.

We liked venturing to the smaller islands to explore, and one year, we were shocked and giddy to find a sunken ship off the tip of the island we later gifted the name, “Treasure Rock”.

Gathering all of our breath, we dove down into the wrecked boat and found treasure! We needed some help pulling it to the surface and getting it back to The Island, where we divvied up jewelry, coins, and knickknacks. A real treasure! We couldn’t believe it and spent the rest of the summer speculating on how it got there.

Each summer after that, we went back to Treasure Rock, and each summer there was another treasure waiting at the bottom of the shipwreck.

I am in my forties now and I still go back to The Island and Treasure Rock, but the last outline of the boat’s gunnels disappeared years ago along with the reappearing treasure and long summers spent exploring with my sisters.

There are many treasures lost in this story (literally and figuratively), but I still have these incredible memories and appreciation for the magic that was created for us ~ and that is a treasure I will keep.

Written for Bloganuary prompt 4: Write about a treasure that’s been lost.