Treasure in a Bottle

The rays of the sun embraced me like the arms of a doting mother. I let their heat soak into my skin. The gentle ocean breeze caressed my body. The salt air, the distant laugh of the gulls--these were things that combined into a powerful tonic--a magical drink of the soul that brought me something I had needed very badly. Relaxation.

All work and no play had left Jack a dull boy, and a lonely one. But I was determined to make the most of the fleeting 24 hours to restore some balance to my life. Sixty hours of working construction each week had given me a fat wallet, but little time to do anything with it except pay the bills. I had finally gotten a little free time.

What to do with this precious gift had become a pressing question. The trick was to find the best way to decompress in my new home town in the least amount of time. Would I go hit the bars? Hit some balls at a the local club? Neither was much fun doing on your own.

I had decided on the logical choice. The thing Gulf Shores was known best for, its white sand beaches. At least then I could bring a drink along with me and gaze at the beauty of a passing sail or strolling sunbather. I might be lonely and worn out, but I wouldn't be miserable.

It was a good choice. The struggles, the pains, the baggage of my everyday work life seemed to be floating away on the breeze. I sat there and gazed out from a comfy beach towel. There were even a few sails out on the ocean blue, plying the surf lazily. There were no ladies lounging on the beach though, only a few couples walking hand in hand along the surf.

Something to remind me of my singularity.

But this definitely beat hammering nails by a long shot. I reclined on the towel and more stress seemed to seep away into the sand. It was then I guess, when I was just about to catch 40 winks, that a glint caught my eye.

I looked over to see something yellow and shiny a few feet away from my towel. A buried piece of glass. It was round and smooth. The bottom of a bottle,it looked like. Out of curiousity I got up and walked over to it. I dug my hands into the ivory granules.

Sure enough it was a bottle. A piece of flotsam or jetsum. I forget which is which. Or maybe it was the careless leftover from some vacationers time on the beach.

I sighed and dug the bottle out. It was well worn, non descript, with a long slender neck. I grabbed the thing and began walking towards the garbage can near the boardwalk. Then something made a faint rustling noise from inside the bottle. That was a noise that changed my life.

Pausing, I stuck my index finger down into the vessel, feeling around. There was something inside. It felt like paper. I managed to grab it by the edge, and, pressing the paper against the side of the bottle, I slowly pulled it out.

There was writing on it.

NO JOKE!

Go here and you will find gold:

30.246036,-87.700819 You won't be dissapointed

I recognized the numbers as GPS coordinates. I looked back out at the sails and suddenly had a vision of a yacht, a big yacht plowing through the waves right beside it. My yacht.

I almost laughed out loud at myself. The note was some advertising gimmick no doubt. Or some teenage prank. I threw the bottle and message away and went back to my towel. About a minute later I sat up.

"Oh what the hell!"

Going back to the garbage can, I ignored the dissapproving faces of onlookers, and fished around till I found the piece of paper. I went back to my towel put on my shirt and shoes, grabbed the towel, and headed for the car.

Moments later, I was cranking the AC in my SUV and punching the coordinates into my GPS navigator. Huh. it was an actual address. Right here in Gulf Shores.

Despite myself, I got a little excited. An image of the yacht flashed in front of my eyes again. This was ridiculous. But I started up, pulled out of my parking spot and began listening for the voice of my electronic copilot.

"Go point five miles then turn right," the navigator told me in a soothing but staccato female tone. I turned right.

Go ".3 miles and turn left" I turned left. It went on for a little bit like this.

When I was much closer to the final destination I turned the vehicle into a residential neighborhood. My heart was beating a little faster. But I was dissapointed too. I wouldn't be digging for treasure in anyone's lawn.

Whether I liked it or not, every crazy escapade has to have an ending and this one does too. I rolled up beside the curb near a small well kept yellow bungalow.

"Final destination, reached," my GPS droned out mindlessly.

I sat there feeling a bit dejected and a little silly. But no harm done.No one would ever know about my little goose chase, and there was plenty of time to get back to the beach.

Instead of making the sensible choice though, I did the crazy thing. I got out of my SUV, walked up the perfectly alligned brick walkway, and up the brick steps to the front door of the little yellow house. I watched, almost detached, as my finger touched the button for the doorbell.

There were footsteps. and then the sounds of the door being unlocked. I saw a another vision then. A young woman with blonde tresses, dressed in a white t-shirt, with a smile that rivaled the beauty of the finest gulf sunset.

She stood on the other side of the screen door and asked me a simple question that I couldn't seem to answer.

"Hello, can I help you?"

 I stammered. My face started to turn red. How could I explain what I was doing here? What was I doing here?

Embarrased I looked away for a moment. It was then that I noticed the mailbox. Lettered in gold paint was the name, "Gold".

A smile dawned on my face, and I turned back to her. I haven't turned back from her since. I took her as my wife two years ago.

And, no, I haven't been dissapointed.