Treasure Hunt

I opened my eyes. There was an eye right in front of mine. It wasn’t Mommy. I tried to grab her hand. The water took her away. It took a lot of them away. I saw them as I grabbed the arm outstretched beside me. I didn’t even see the arm. I just reached out and it was there. The water was churning. It was scary. The boat made the water wavy. The waves took some of them. It took a lot of them. Mommy was gone. I went under for a sec, and then she was gone. The arm next to me held me. The boat was coming. It was coming towards us.

I once saw the man. He had a big house. He was standing on the green grass near the water. He had white pants on. I never wore white. I always made a mess.

Before we left, and before the man made us go into the big big room, we had a nice place. It was kind of like the other places, but I liked it better because it smelled like soap and it had a couch that had cushions that fit me. Mommy and I slept together on the couch. Mommy always smelled like soap. Don't know where she got it. We had a little cat that almost never came home and when she did she sometimes let me pet her. She had a little pink collar with a golden heart locket. It had her name on it. She was my friend. From before.

In the big room, Mommy and I were pushed back. All the people were pushed back. There was a big door. If you weren’t near the door there was a bunch of bad things that would happen. The people who were far from the door yelled and I buried my head in Mommy. The people near the door jumped. We jumped. We held hands. The water was down a long way. We had to let go to keep floating. And there were so many people. I saw them, the ones that jumped. I even saw a guy I knew. He used to sell stuff at the store, a long time ago. I didn’t like him. I saw him float away. And then Mommy floated away. And I held the arm, and the eye in front of me was blinking too much. It didn't look like an eye any more.

The people in the water tried to get to the edge, but at the edge, some guys would come and I don’t know where they came from, but you couldn’t get out because the guys would have these big giant knives and then they would chop you. I didn't really see it because I just looked in front. I had to let go of the arm to stay up. I was glad I had swum so much with Mommy and that she had taught me. I couldn’t really see anything because there were so many people and not much room in the river. We had to try to stay up and the boat with the man in it was right behind.

The boat ran over most of us. And then there was a stopping place in the river. And the boat made us get on. We had to get on the boat because there was this way to go up a thing made of wood. There was a room in the bottom of the boat. It had a big wheel. And on the other side, there was a fire. I was in the middle. I was small so I saw something. There was a big thing there with all this oil on it. It was like a slide. The wheel was running over people and the fire was burning, so I put myself in the oil. The slide. I don’t know what it was. There was a thing that opened. Like a door. And then I was out in the river again. I don’t know how I found it. I don’t know what it was.

And then in the river, I looked up at the boat and I saw the man. I didn’t want to see him, but I couldn’t look away. He had made everyone go and he had made Mommy and I come to the big room and now here I was floating in the river, all alone. I guess if he had seen me I would have been toast. He had a beard. I hate prickly beards, even though I've never touched one.

I was at the end of the river, so I had to get out. It was weird because the side of the river was all rocks and hard. And I found a spot to hang onto and kind of hide. But I wasn’t sure what to do next. And it was so, so weird because all of a sudden I saw a golden locket. I really saw it. It sort of hit me in the eye with a reflection. It moved a little up, and then I saw a way out. And I couldn’t even believe it. Even though there was no one else left in the river, the sky seemed to open up. I could suddenly see the sun. It had been gone a long, long time. The house we had lived in was so cold and the sun I remembered was back now. And without the sun I wouldn't have seen the locket on the rock and stuff. The man hadn’t taken the sun.

The boat was full. I had to get away, even away from Mommy. I had to follow the gold. Funny old cat.