Wilderness Bank Account

We just knew we would be rich. Our collection of quarters had risen to a pile well worth noticing and they were sitting beautiful and shiny across our workspace. They were our future. They were the horse I so badly wanted and the pet tiger he had been dreaming about. Real ones...not toys.

We had a plan. We would bury our precious treasure in the mountainside. We would promise not to touch it until we were grown up. They would be worth so much more by then. We had a problem though. How were we to find these little pieces of our future again after we had buried them? Not to worry! He had come up with an ingenious idea. We would scotch tape each quarter to its own rock. These rocks would be spray painted silver and gold. Of course we would be able to find them after all that work to make them noticeable! Our plan was flawless. Nodding our heads in satisfaction, we got to work.

His little orange desk became speckled in beautiful golds and silvers as we carefully painted each rock. We didn't mind the smell. We didn't mind anything. Nothing mattered anymore because all was well! We wouldn't have to grow up and dull our minds over work. No, not us. Our future was filled with unimaginable wealth and riches! The hours went by and the empty scotch tape rolls went clattering to the floor as his mom came quietly in to replace them with full ones, a quiet smile on her face. Finally, we were ready. It was time to hike the mountain and bury them.

Our calves burned climbing up the steep hills and our breaths became labored as we breathed in the thin mountain air. Our eyes sparkled happily as we toted our hall up higher and higher. Occasionally, we would find the perfect nook or cranny in the mountainside and we would stop to take out a treasure piece and bury it. Our fingernails became blackened with the dirt and sweat of our hard work. At last, we were finished! Our wilderness bank account was overflowing and already gaining interest. We grinned at each other and headed down the mountainside and toward the warmth of the house.

That was fifteen years ago and today that little boy and I are engaged...and no...while we are not rich in gold and money, we have found our future of wealth and riches...together.