Uncharted Paradise

Chapter 1

"Father, why did you decide to catch fish in the middle of the storm? Do you want us to die?" I asked, clutching the railing.

"My son, this is what my father taught me. I want to pass this on to you! This is the source of our wealth," he replied, maneuvering the boat hard amidst the raging storm.

My father was smiling while looking at the storm. Tears streamed down his face, mingling with the raindrops. I held on to the big boat we were in, feeling its wooden planks creak under the pressure. I couldn't see any sign of fear in his face. He was very sure of what he was doing. His eyes were shining. The roaring thunder made my body shiver. My wet body wanted to collapse anytime because of the cold and fear, but my strong trust in my father kept me holding on. He told me that we would go home safely. My mother also didn't resist my father when he informed her of our journey this evening. She looked proud of me when I caught my last glimpse of her while we were on the shore.

I was busy removing the water inside the boat. Almost half of the boat was filled with water, but we weren't sinking because of the additional floating device my father had put on both sides of the boat.

It was the same boat my grandfather used when they had this kind of deadly activity. My father always told me that our ancestors did this once in a lifetime.

I could still remember when my father proudly told this story once a month during our bedtime story. My mother also kept on telling me about it since kindergarten. They told me not to speak to anyone about the legend of this voyage.

Thunder roared and waves rose as high as a two-story building around us. The bedtime story was so real. The fear in my heart grew as we continued.

I saw, from a distance, a calm area. A light in the middle of the raging ocean. I saw hope. My father laughed hard when he saw it.

"We're almost there!" he shouted to me.

After the most ear-deafening thunder and eye-blinding lightning, the storm slowly calmed.

I was amazed by the dark clouds around us. It was like a hole in a donut. The sun shone brightly. There were many birds in the middle of the eye of the typhoon. It was huge, like a three-football-field area. When I looked down at the water, there were many big black fins. Sharks were jumping around. They were three times bigger than our boat, but they weren't attacking us; it seemed like they had a pattern. We were the audience, and they were the performers. All I could hear was a drum beat, or maybe it was my heartbeat. Too loud.

"Son, welcome to true wisdom and true wealth. This is called success. Don't worry, everything will be fine!" he said calmly. It seemed like all kinds of fish surrounded us. They formed a parade, from big to small. Different colors of octopus, sea turtle, crabs, and dolphins. As we continued to move, we saw an island. Behind us, all I could see was darkness.

We moved toward the island. There were big trees. My father tied the boat to one of them. Then he and I went to a massive tree.

"Don't move. Stay until I say so," he said to me.

It was like a fortress in the middle of the island. After a while, I saw many birds at the top of the island, and then gold bars and other things made of gold poured like rain from the top. The birds were like phoenixes. I had never seen this kind of bird; their wings were on fire while their tails emitted a blue color. After the rain of gold, I was going to jump to collect or at least get one, but my father told me to stop and not move.

"Embrace the tree, son," he warned me.

I found myself wrapped with a rope. My father and I were on a rope. Then he pointed at the dark clouds.

"It's coming! After this, everything will be fine!" he said.

The storm started to bump us again. The lightning and thunder were outrageous. More dangerous than when we were in the ocean. It was unending. After an hour, the weather calmed.

"We are now safe." My father said so.

He removed the rope. We collected the treasure one by one. Spoon, fork, glasses, eyeglasses, plates, and other materials. Name it, they were made from gold. A total of 10 sacks in the boat made us almost sink. We were too heavy and the floating device might fail to support us. My father dropped one sack of gold into the water and this made our journey lighter than before. I didn't care about the treasure. It was just metal to me. My parents cherished the gold, but I had no interest in it.

I could still remember in my father and mother's room where different things were made from gold. They bartered them with businessmen and they loved to exchange them for money and land.

Almost half of our town's land, 300 hectares, are owned by our family. People work for us.

"Son, you will share this with your grandchildren. This is our tradition. Our generational curse! Our wisdom, our success."

"I will do it, my father!" I replied while looking at the peaceful sea. The moon's light made the sea clear. The ocean's grandiose parade was gone. All I could see was the vastness of water.

I was contemplating the difficulty of getting the wealth. It was passed to us, a tradition that should not be broken. I understand now, we should undergo hardship before we reach success.

When we arrived at the shore, my mother kissed my father. She had prepared a numerous chest where my father successfully brought the gold.

"Are you okay, son?" she asked while embracing me.