2015

There were times where it became hotter than usual inside eleven-year-old Carmen Sánchez's bedroom during the summer nights, in which she always ended up unable to fall asleep, staring up at the ceiling in annoyance. Even with the small fan that she had standing at the edge of her bed, she could still feel the sweat just about soak through her shirt. Throwing the blankets off of her, Carmen sat up and looked out the small window by her bed. She was opening it up to let in what little breeze she could when the light at the end of the small pier caught her eye, to which she wasn't all that surprised to see, as she knew exactly who was out there.

On most nights, it was frequent for her father, Miguel Sánchez, to go sit on the boat or in his shed across the yard and read through books and documents filled with endless history of whatever treasure he was itching to know about and would eventually venture out to search for it. Over the years, while Carmen enjoyed hearing the stories he'd tell her, it became more difficult to watch him leave for long periods of time, and her mother was growing tired of it, too.

Carmen climbed out through the window, jumping down on the ground and heading toward the pier. She could hear the water hitting against the wood and boat as she felt the hard surface at the soles of her feet, along with the crickets echoing through the night sky.

"¿Papá?" she called out, causing him to look up from his book.

"Mija," he stated, placing the book down in front of him. "What are you doing up? It's late."

"I couldn't sleep," she replied.

Her dad nodded his head, giving his daughter an understanding look. "The heat really gets to you, doesn't it?"

"It wouldn't be the Outer Banks if it didn't," she pointed out, then looked down at his book. "Whatcha reading this time?"

The man chuckled. "Just another legend about some treasure. I'm guessing you'd like to hear more about it?"

"Is it for another hunt?" she asked, almost sounding sad at the thought of him leaving again.

He sighed. "Maybe."

"How long will you be gone for this time?"

He shrugged in response. "I don't know."

That's the problem. He never knows.

Carmen stepped onto the boat and sat down across from him. "We don't want you to leave again. You were gone for almost two weeks last time."

"I know, sweetheart," he replied. "I hate to leave you and your mother all the time."

"So why don't you just stay? Why don't you just quit treasure hunting for good?"

Her dad shot her a sad smile. "Because I love it too much to let it go," he admitted. "Tell me, Carmen. How much do you love being out on the boat?"

"More than anything," she answered.

"How does it make you feel?"

"Happy," she said.

He nodded his head. "You know, when I'm out on the boat, I think there's always an adventure out there, even though we've been up and down these waters many times. Well, that's how treasure-hunting makes me feel, only I have no idea what's out there or if I'll even find anything. It's exciting."

"It sounds boring to me."

He laughed. "Well, you've never done it, have you? Maybe you can join me one day. We can go on an adventure together. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

In a way, it did, and Carmen smiled a little at the thought of spending more time with her dad. "Yeah, it does sound fun, but Mom wouldn't want me to go."

"We'd convince her," he assured his daughter. "She can't stop us from having an adventure."

"Do you think we'd ever find anything?"

"It's always possible."

"And then we get rich and move out of the Cut, right? We could go live on Figure Eight in a nice, big house with all of the dinero in the world."

He nodded his head. "Yeah, or we could stay here and make the Cut better, have it become a growing community like Figure Eight." Miguel Sánchez was always a humble man, believing that anything could be better if people just put in the effort to make it so. "The Cut has potential. I can see it."

"Well, I sure can't," Carmen mumbled.

"One day, you'll appreciate what you have here and all the beauty that it holds. Life is precious, Carmen, and so are the wonders of the Outer Banks." He gave her another smile as he grabbed his book. "Now, how about that story?"

At that moment, Carmen felt like a little kid again, sitting across from her dad as he told her the story of the long-lost treasure from his book that had been hidden for centuries, waiting to be found someday. Even though each story always sounded the same whenever he told it, Carmen didn't care, for she was beginning to understand his passion as she saw the way his eyes lit up while telling the legends of gold or some other ancient artifact that was worth more than anyone could dream of.

For the rest of the summer, Carmen became fascinated by adventure, the thrill of it bringing her joy and excitement. She and Maverick Wilson, her best friend, always found something to do on Kildare Island, exploring every inch of it, even going back to the same spots. On those summer nights when her dad was home, she would go out on the boat when he was out there and tell him about what she and Maverick did and found that day while exploring, always having wide eyes as she spoke. Her dad had a smile on his face without fail as he watched his daughter with such admiration, the sparks in her eyes being just the same as his.

But it was just a couple of weeks after her twelfth birthday when that all changed. Carmen came home from Maverick's house that evening and noticed her dad was nowhere to be found. Her mom stayed silent, a heartbroken look on her face. Carmen didn't question her about it, because she really didn't think she had to.

It's just another treasure hunt, she thought. He'll be back soon. He always comes back.

So every night, she would go sit on the boat and wait for him to show up. He never did.

Carmen couldn't remember when she stopped waiting around for him to come back, nor could she remember when the last time the word "treasure" was said in the house. Nevertheless, Carmen and her mom never talked about either one much, and maybe it was best if it stayed that way.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Gif banner made by soulofstaars

TRANSLATIONS:

Mija = my daughter

dinero = money

Please let me know if any translations are not correct (also going to point out that Carmen is half-Puerto Rican).

So, here is the prologue! What did y'all think?

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A