With my hands gripping the rounded piece of wood I cursed the horizon for offering nothing but a Sun that dipped into the endless blue swells. Amidst the list of things to curse was myself for the journey I fought so hard to begin four months earlier. The agony of sailing towards nothing, in search of something no one could even prove existed was only part of the hardships being endured by my men and me.

Everyday that passed I felt weaker inside, while never letting the crew see my humiliation. In the morning the men and I would kneel to God, any God, and pray that this day would bring us to the great lost city of riches called Atlantis. In the afternoon I would stare in silence, thinking of how foolish I would look if my men and I never realized my dream and parish due to starvation or illness or a storm that would take us down to a watery grave.

Excited, I set a course for the tiny light of hope. It took all day for our vessel to get within a couple of miles from landfall. But oh what a wonderful sight of trees swaying in the winds and white sandy beaches! My body was so tired of the constant rocking motion of the sea, and the thought of standing on firm ground made me feel like a school boy. However, my eyes were trained on the reflection of light emanating from the mountain top that would suddenly blind me when the Sun would cast a particular way upon it.

Could this be the ancient city searched for by so many men possessed by this same quest?? Secretly, I asked myself with an aching hope?

I'd been a fool all my life, never finding what it is that makes most men satisfied with who they are. Would I now be rewarded with the riches of kings? True affirmation of the man I've known who existed inside; the Gold, the Silver, the women to fill my darkest wishes, the drink to inebriate my soul and the friends that would always be there. But in my mind, I knew the reason I staked everything I was on a dream.

Shamefully it was my childhood that separated me from the rest of the World and locked me away in my own private prison. Yes, I was the child who at 15 years of age would take the long way home so the other children wouldn't see exactly where I lived, or see the emotional scars left on my soul by adults around me who were really desperate children themselves, including teachers who could scald you with their eyes and make your feelings bleed...they were Vultures that fed on the weak children too distracted to learn their lessons.

Oh yes, my obsession had little to do with money, it was my dirty need to be important, my over- compensation for feeling like a rat in a King's bed. What a filthy feeling for a child, in fact, most of my life had been hiding my secret, but now.....

That tiny glimmer of light had already set my imagination afire. In the depths of my subconsciousness I'd already turned the tables on those that had never believed in me, this was my chance to finally belong in the bed of Kings and make a mark upon history before I slip into old age. People would read about me, Antonio del Cielo, and ask questions of me, create statues of my image, admire me and find inspiration in me.

Once I found Atlantis I could throw myself upon thick pillows of comfort and finally exhale with satiated breath. Yes breathe, and laugh at the empty cell I cheated out of a permanent occupant...

Anchoring 100 yards off shore, we made our way to the tranquil beach in smaller boats. My men and I had never seen such a lush land, and so we seemed captivated by simple trees.

Upon reaching the shore I wasted no time in putting together a party of men to climb the steep mountain in search of the lost city. We cut away the thick brush that stood in front of us like small determined guards, and worked our way slowly up the treacherous cliffs. Nothing would hold me back. Nothing.

Moments later, a huge explosion from the mountain top blew forth a solid gold boulder the size of a barrel, then another, then another.....the golden chunks were blown high into the sky and falling like brilliant stars to the beach and shallow waters below us.