The Treasure Hunt

Tony sat on the front porch and rocked back and forth in his chair. The cool breeze blew in his gray hair and he watched the sun rays shine on the tulips in the front yard.

“Honey,” his wife called behind him. “It’s a beautiful day. Why don’t you plant something new in the garden today? How about some lilies in front of the Rosewood tree?” she said.

In front of the Rosewood tree? Tony repeated to himself and thought about that for a minute. Tony agreed and started to work in the garden. He pushed his little red shovel into the ground so he can make room for the lilies. But as he was digging, he noticed something black in the ground. As he pushed his shovel into the soil one more time, he uncovered a little black book. “What is this?” he said to himself.

He dusted it off and opened to the first page. Written in small writing, it said: “This book belongs to Michael Madden.” Who is Michael Madden? Tony thought to himself.

The second page listed what seemed to be a table of contents page:

“My top 10 favorite things:

1) The color blue

2) Writing

3) Sitting by the beach

4) Listening to the waves

5) Singing to my favorite tunes

6) Watching the Cowboys game

7) Laughing

8) Riding bikes

9) Walking around the shopping center

10) Most importantly: spending time with my family”

Tony flipped the page one more time and found a thick envelope inside with the words “treasure” on the front. He opened it carefully and discovered money in it! His heart started pounding as he could not believe what he found. He counted it quickly and there was a total of $20,000 in the envelope. He rushed into the house to tell his wife.

“I found a little black book in the garden and an envelope with $20,000!” said Tony. His wife gasped, “how did that get there?” she said.

“A man named Michael Madden must have buried it in the garden because it says this is his book,” exclaimed Tony. “I must return it to him. He must’ve forgotten he buried it!”

The wife smiled and said, “You have such a kind heart for wanting to return the money. But how will you find this Michael?”

“Michael left writings in the book that described what he likes. I can use that to find the right Michael. It will be like a treasure hunt!” Tony said excitedly. “Except I’ll be the one giving Michael the treasure,” said Tony as he beamed with joy.

“Hmm that sounds fun! Maybe we can search for him in the phone book,” his wife said as she hurried to the next room.

Tony looked at the little black book one more time to identify the clues he needed to find Michael. Each page described the favorite things he listed. Michael talked about how the color blue reminded him of the ocean. He talked about how writing helped him cope with events that were out of his control. He described his experience by the beach and how listening to the waves soothed him. Wow, Michael is a great writer, thought Tony. Michael Madden would be a great name for an author.

His wife came back with a list of addresses for all the Michael Maddens in driving distance. Then Tony wrote down questions to ask Michael based on what he wrote in the book: what’s your favorite color, favorite football team, etc. They got in the car and headed off to search for Michael.

They drove to the first address on the list and walked up to the front door. Tony knocked and a man with a baseball cap answered.

“Hi, we’re looking for a man named Michael Madden,” said Tony.

“That’s me. How can I help you?” said Michael.

“I found something that may belong to you,” Tony explained. “But I need to make sure it’s yours before I give it to you. Can we ask you a few questions?”

“Sure,” said Michael. “I love having company. Come on in.”

Tony and his wife sat on Michael’s couch and Tony started the conversation. “So Michael, what’s your favorite football team?”

“Oh I’m not a big fan of football,” said Michael. “I just never got into it. I love baseball instead.”

Tony nodded and paused for a minute while he looked down at his piece of paper. He stared at the questions. His wife jumped in, “How about your favorite color?”

“I love the color green. It’s been my favorite since I was a kid,” said Michael.

They asked Michael a few more questions but determined this couldn’t be the Michael they were looking for. Tony and his wife left the home and headed to the next address on the list.

“This is a fun treasure hunt honey,” Tony’s wife said. “I know we’ll find the right Michael and return his book and money,” she added. Tony smiled at her and nodded.

They arrived at the second house and the second Michael also invited them in to chat. This Michael had similarities to the one in the book, but they still had to be sure.

“So, Michael, do you normally do anything fun on sunny days like this?” said Tony’s wife.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the sunshine,” said the second Michael. “I think I have been to the beach maybe once since I’ve lived here,” he laughed. “Some Californian I am.”

Since two of the favorite things in the book were about the beach, this couldn’t be the right Michael. But they enjoyed the conversation anyways.

Tony and his wife headed to the third house. They pulled up to the curb and Tony stared at the piece of paper for a minute before getting out. Michael Madden, he read in his head. Michael Madden, he thought once more.

They walked up to the door and a tall handsome man answered with a surprised face.

“Hi, we’re looking for Michael Madden,” said Tony right away.

The man paused, then smiled. “My friends call me Mike,” he said.

“Hi, Mike,” said Tony. He stared at Mike for a second before continuing. “I may have something of yours but we wanted to ask you a few questions before we give it to you if that’s okay.”

“Sure, come on in,” said Mike. They chatted all afternoon talking about all their favorite things. Mike loved the beach, he has watched every Cowboys game since he was a kid, and he loved to write. He also laughed constantly throughout their time talking together.

“Mike, I know you are the one we have been looking for all day. This belongs to you,” said Tony as he handed him the little black book and envelope. Mike smiled with tears suddenly filling his eyes.

“Yes, this book is mine,” said Mike. “I wrote it when I first started writing. And this envelope has the money I made from my first published book.” Tony’s eyes widened as Mike explained. He is an author, Tony thought to himself.

“I buried the book and envelope in my parent’s backyard. I labeled the money “treasure” because my dad and I used to love going on treasure hunts together,” said Mike. “He would often bury things for me to find and he loved the treasure hunts I made him.” Tony scrunched his forehead and stared at Mike, as he was trying to comprehend what he was telling him.

“I wanted to give my dad one more big treasure hunt right by the Rosewood tree we used to play by,” Mike said. Tony’s wife grabbed his hand and smiled at him.

“So I left this money knowing my dad would want to go on a quest to return it because his heart was so pure,” Mike continued. “But I knew he wouldn’t remember that I left it for him,” he said as he fought back tears.

“So with a little help,” he smiled at Tony’s wife, “I had the treasure hunt lead to me,” he said with tears streaming down his face. “I wanted my dad to focus on my favorite things, spend the day trying to find me, so maybe he could remember me one more time.”

Tears filled Tony’s eyes as he knew exactly what Mike was saying now. “My son!” he exclaimed as he hugged Mike tightly in his arms. “I’m sorry I had forgotten for a moment. But I will look for you over and over until the day I die.”