Just for fun....Someone asked if I could come up with an idea for her 9-year old son's birthday party. I suggested a treasure hunt and wrote this piece to be read before the hunt began.

October 13, 1763

          I don’t have much time, but I want to write everything down so whoever finds this will know where I buried the treasure. But first, I must tell how I came to have the treasure in the first place.

          It was a stormy night at sea. The sails on our pirate ship flapped madly in the wind. The waves were so high they washed over the side of our ship. Alas, mates, we lost two men to the cruel sea during that storm.

          We had no sleep for two days, because that’s how long the storm raged on. We had to work day and night just to keep the ship from sinking!

          The men were very, very tired. We all tried our best to stay at our posts. Our clothes were soaked clear through and we had run out of food because the storm carried us far from any shore where we could get more. So, I guess I don’t need to tell you how hungry we were!

          Anyway, my friend, John Sebastian (he was just a lad of 17!) grew very weak from hunger and lack of sleep. Poor Johnny! (He’d been captured during one of our raids.) He sneaked below deck to get some rest. I tried to cover for him! Honest I did!

          Well, Captain Redbeard, who stayed in his room during the storm (he was afraid of lightning, the sissy!) caught Johnny sleeping! Aye, mates, it wasn’t a pretty scene. The captain shook him until poor Johnny’s teeth rattled and his eyes crossed! Then he made him walk the plank!

          I begged the captain not to do it. But he told me to be quiet or I would have to walk the plank too! Right then I swore revenge for my friend Johnny Sebastian.

          When the captain turned his back I went after him. He tripped on one of the cannons and fell overboard! I knew I didn’t have much time before the other men would rescue him. I ran to the captain’s quarters and searched for the treasure I knew he had hidden there. At last I found it! I grabbed some food the captain was keeping for himself and ran back on deck and lowered the life raft and climbed down into it as fast as I could.

          My arms grew very sore, but I kept rowing because I knew the captain would follow me. The sharks constantly circled my little boat.

          After two days I spied land and rowed ashore.

          My food is gone now and so is my water. I’m too weak to hunt. I won’t last much longer and the captain and his men aren’t far behind me. They must not find the treasure, so I have hidden it.

          I am putting some clues with this letter to help you find it.

          Good luck mates!

          Watch out for Captain Redbeard!