1 - After The Gold Settles

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So you might be wondering what happens after you find the lost city of El Dorado, get blown up, two of your parents die, and you're stranded in South America with a sack full of gold

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So you might be wondering what happens after you find the lost city of El Dorado, get blown up, two of your parents die, and you're stranded in South America with a sack full of gold.

Well...let me catch you up.

First, you catch a ride back home, and sleep for like three weeks.

And when you finally get back, you make peace with the family...
or not.

I'm pacing the yard with my phone pressed so hard to my ear it hurts. My voice already feels tight, too thin.

"No no wait. Rose you think I killed him? Are you kidding me? You think I killed dad? Rose do you understand how insane you sound?" I said into the phone.

My stomach twists as her voice rises in the other end- loud, sharp.
My nerves spark instantly. I hate raised voices now; I never used to notice them before. Now I always do.

"Can you please just put Wheezie on? Can I please talk to Wheezie? Can I talk to my little sister please? Or call Sarah and let her talk to her. Rose?" I beg her, but then I pull the phone away and see she hung up.

The silence after the dial tone hits too fast, too loud.

I swallow hard and walk over to John b slowly, trying not to cry- even though I already feel the tears burning behind my eyes.

"Hey" he says softly, wrapping his arms around me before I even reach him.

"Hey" I whisper back, staring at the huge old tree in front of us.




Welcome home.
And after all the loose ends are tied up-
the gold.



All seven of us sat in the room as the men tested the gold. I sat with my hands clasped in my lap so they wouldn't tremble. I'm not sure why I was nervous when I knew it was real, but I just couldn't help it.

Too many months of danger wired my body into expecting something to explode.
Literally.

"Twenty pounds. 98.5%.... Gold" the man says.

Relief rushes through me so fast I almost laugh. I smile at John b instead, grounding myself in his grin.

"And that translates to...?" John b asks

"This is money. A whole lot of money." The man says, and we all burst into cheers.

I jump up with the others, laughing- trying to feel the joy instead of the leftover adrenaline. I hug JJ so tightly he picks me up, then I hug Sarah next.

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