He Had To Be Quick
Brad takes a deep breath before clawing the ground. He had to be quick. He had to find whatever was in the ground. Time was running out. As soon as he set foot into the woods an hour earlier, Brad knew something was off. People said not to go into these woods but Brad didn’t care. The rumors didn’t phase him.
Brad digs deeper with his hands, and using his forearm he wipes a drop of sweat from his forehead. But then suddenly, Brad saw something in the ground that he had managed to dig up. And as soon as he saw it, a terrible feeling hit the pit of his stomach.
He Loved An Adventure
Brad Martin loved nothing more than a good adventure -- uncovering lost treasures or discovering places that may not have been found yet.
Whether he was hiking hills in the countryside or discovering lost treasure in the mountains, Brad was always prepared for his adventure and wherever it would take him. But nothing could have prepared Brad for this.
Monday Morning
One mundane Monday morning, Brad decided to head into his local woods. There was a plot of land in the woods where an old building once stood, and all that remained was a hole, basement, and a few intersecting walls.
But there was something else in these woods. A secret, buried deep in the ground. And secrets are meant to say buried, right?
It Wasn’t Human
For as long as Brad could remember, people had told him that these woods were haunted. “It was the place where you never want to go,” an elderly relative once told him. Many of the townspeople claimed they had seen something in the woods. Something that wasn’t human.
But Brad never believed in these rumors, after all that’s all they were, right? They were just rumors. Little did Brad know how wrong he was.
Excited For The Day
As Brad drives to the woods, he can feel the excitement rising in his body. Endless thoughts kept circling in his mind. What if he found something super rare and valuable? What if he found nothing? Would it have been a waste of a day?
Yes, Brad was excited, to say the least. But he had no idea what was coming.
The Sun Starts To Set
Brad arrives at the entrance to the woods, but just as he locked his car and picked up his metal detector, the sun started to go down. “That’s strange,” thought Brad as he looked at his watch. It was only 6:30 pm.
He locked his car, and armed with the metal detector, he made his way into the woods. But as got closer to the woods, he saw something that left an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
Someone In The Woods
A dark figure emerged from the trees and sprinted across a nearby field. Brad couldn’t make out what the figure was, but standing at around six feet tall, he presumed it was a man. But what was a man doing in these woods?
Brad crouched, trying not to let the dark figure see him. But when Brad looked up, he noticed that the dark figure had gone. That was strange. Brad dismissed his thoughts and carried on walking into the woods, not knowing he should have turned around and gone back home.
About To Give Up
Brad started walking around the dark woods, hoping to find something. But half an hour later he had found nothing. He felt annoyed; had he just wasted his day?
But then suddenly, as he made his way deeper into the woods, he saw something that caused a shiver to race up his spine. And Brad knew nothing would ever be the same again.
An Uneasy Feeling
On a tree, random symbols and words had been carved. Brad couldn’t make out what they said, but either way, they were pretty creepy. “It must have been kids, right?” Brad thought, trying to shift the feeling of uneasiness he had in his stomach.
He touched the markings on the tree and goosebumps prickled all over his body. Something was telling Brad to leave, to get as far away from here as possible. But Brad didn’t listen to himself. But he should have.
Walking In The Woods
Brad carried on walking around for an hour and he still hadn’t found anything. But then just as he walked away from a gigantic tree, his metal detector started beeping.
It seemed something was near. And it was something Brad could never have expected.
Metal Detector Beeping
For a few minutes Brad, armed with his metal detector, circled around the woods, trying to find the very object his metal detector had just told him was underneath the ground.
But time was ticking, and as each minute that passed, Brad felt like giving up. He couldn’t find it. But then, just as he was about to head back to the car and deem this trip an epic fail, his metal detector beeped again. And Brad knew exactly where it was coming from.
Something In The Ground
Finally, Brad had found the spot. He wondered what could be hidden underneath the ground, so he proceeded to dig it up. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Brad was determined to find whatever was under the ground.
And, when he did, he couldn’t believe what he had found.
Uncovering The Truth
“That is so big! That is so big! What is that? Oh, my gosh,” Brad proclaimed. To help him see what he had uncovered, the adventurer reached for a small spray bottle of water, cleaning off his discovery to help him identify the object.
And when he did, he was left lost for words.
A Storm Is Coming
Just as Brad was about to pick up the object for a closer look, lightning shattered overhead.
The winds whistled and a terrible feeling hit the pit of Brad’s stomach. Another shot of lightning boomed and Brad dropped the object onto the muddy floor. Brad had to be quick. He had to get this object and get out of the woods as fast as he could.
Had To Be Quick
Brad got on his knees and tried finding the object he had just uncovered. His knees sunk into the ground and he clawed his hands through the dirt.
There was no way Brad could leave the woods without this object. But time was running out.
Lost And Found
Finally, Brad found the object! He picked it up and his mouth dropped when he took a closer look. It was thick and heavy.
He examines the object from every angle, his brown eyes fixated on his discovery. Brad couldn’t believe it. What had he discovered?
The Object Is Revealed
As Brad cleaned the object and inspected it further, he knew just what this object was. Although he hadn’t seen one like this before, that was for sure.
It turned out that this object was in fact a coin. But Brad knew this wasn’t just any coin. It was something much better, and hopefully, much more valuable.
Truth Explained
It was an incredible 1780 Spanish Eight Reales, the fabled ‘Pieces of Eight’ from pirate stories. The silver currency was minted in five denominations – one-half, one, two, four, and eight.
As such, the coins became known as Pieces of Eight, with the largest coin becoming an internationally accepted trade coin.
Never Letting It Go
Brad could barely believe his luck in finding such a special coin!
His find was definitely the biggest piece of silver he’d ever found and with it being so old and Spanish, it definitely ranked as one of the coolest things he’d ever found in his life!
A Happy Ending
As Brad left the woods, he held the coin close to him. There was no way he was going to lose this. It was too special.
He arrived back at his car, and as he stopped inside rain hammered down, crashing into the windshield. But brad didn’t care. What he had in his hand was something that he knew was going to change his life.