It Had to Be
A creative writing story about finding a lost loved one who went away, not to be seen for a long time and never to come back.
The jewels sparkled in the sunlight. At the moment that’s what we thought they were. Jewels, gold, riches, money. And out of our foolishness, we were tricked and blinded. Not concerning the fact that it might not be what it seems. It would be awful if it wasn’t. We had walked this far and were running short on food and water in this long stretch of wilderness. It had to be it, after all, in all those stories about prospectors discovering gold and rare jewels were set in the middle of nowhere. The only difference in this situation was the fact that it wasn’t desert.
The year was 1980 and I was looking for my Grandpa around the Great Lakes. He was a prospector, but not a smart one. After all, he was dumb enough to search near the Great Lakes. He had suddenly just disappeared in the wilderness and hasn’t been heard from again. Of course, I still love him, though he decided to do something so stupid. Otherwise, I would have just forgot about him and went on with my life. It is easier to try and walk in his footsteps with better technology and roads. The main road he was going to use to get wherever he went was still in progress and couldn’t be used but now it is open. Accordingly, he followed the road, the fact is though, we don’t know how far he followed it. I just kept going, only knowing that somewhere around here was where he branched off.
Hmm… what is that on the side of the road, I went down to look at it. I read the old looking board, I could only see the words “Sparkling Sands” with a short piece of info that said, “no one quite knows what causes the setting sun to sparkle in a canyon 80 miles from here, no one has ever been able to get down where the ‘sands’ are”. As I was reading this, I was thinking to myself, time to gear up and go on a huge expedition, after all, this sounds appealing to a prospector looking for jewels and gold. The only problem is, how am I going to get there, I only had my vehicle which was only slightly built for off-road driving. Well, I guess I had to try. I went back up to my truck and drove farther up the road looking for a safe area to get down of the highway. After going 1 more mile without success, I backtrack and found a little dirt road leading down of the highway. I decided this wouldn’t be such of a rough going, after all, it was fairly flat ground.
For the next few days, I make it almost 65 out of eighty miles and run out of fuel, lucky for me, after looking around, I saw a sign that said Mortonsville, Michigan- 2 miles east. I went there, got some help along with food and rest. Then set out for the rest of the 15-mile journey.
I finally made it to the “Sparkling Sands” and the view is quite beautiful. With all these sparkling patches on the ground, it was quite a sight. I decided to explore. I traveled closer to the edge and found a hole in the ground. I put the back of my hand over it and found cool air coming out of it. It must be a cave. I ran back to my truck and grabbed a waterproof coat, a flashlight, and a candle with its holder just in case. I descended into the cave and flicked the switch on to the flashlight. I straight away found 2 headstones in the cave and started reading…
“Charlie Morton 1945-January 1980” and “Henry Ferry 1948- March 1980”
I suddenly realized those were the names of two men that went with my Grandpa. As I was thinking, I felt something touch my back and turned around. There, behind me, was some person. They had a very gruff voice and said to me, “Why are you here? You look like your lost.” Before I could tell him why I was here, he suddenly asked another question. “What’s your name?” and paused for a moment before catching himself again, “Well I’ll ask you later, but first let’s get you out of here.” As we reached the light, I suddenly realized whose face it was, my Grandpa’s!
We walked back to his little house, and we sat down to talk. As I took a seat, he smiled like he knew something about me, then he frowned and shook his head.
“What’s wrong?” I asked confused.
“Oh, I thought you looked kind of like my Grandson, but then I realized ‘Why would he come looking for me’”, He paused for a moment, ”After all the stupid things I’ve done, and also after letting him down.” “Oh, and by the way, I never got your name.”
I started to say my name with a smile, “My name is Phil, you know, I’m your grandson.”
“Why, my goodness, I’d never have recognized you… well let’s get something to eat, you must have worked up a big appetite from traveling way out here” my Grandpa chuckled.
I stayed for a few days, helping him out with a few things. I asked him over and over again if he was going to go home with me, but each time I asked, he simply said no.
I was out in the front of the house, ready to leave. My grandpa was sitting on the porch, looking down. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” I asked one last time. He gave a sad, long look and said nothing, which clearly meant no. “Well, I’m sure I will see you again sometime”, I said optimistically with a mysterious future rolled out before me.