A Walnut‘s Fate

That day is something I will never forget.

I should have died beneath the sea. Instead, I survived.

I was the only survivor.

When I was eventually found, I was lying on the shore with a treasure chest beside me. Inside was enough wealth to change my life forever. Gold, jewels, and relics that had probably been hidden beneath the sea for centuries were suddenly mine.

But there was something else in my hands.

The Dutchman’s Compass.

It took me a long time to understand what had really happened.

The compass had not reacted violently because I was rotten.

It had reacted because I was pure.

That was why it had behaved differently in my hands. It was not trying to lead me toward my death. It was trying to point me toward the treasure, and because the treasure was beneath the sea, the needle could only show us its direction.

It also made me realize something else.

Our old captain had been pure.

I know how strange that sounds after everything he did, but the compass had never reacted violently when he held it. It had guided him toward the treasure without hesitation. Perhaps he was not the monster we believed him to be. Perhaps his heart had been purer than any of ours.

And perhaps that was why the compass had brought us to such a terrible place.

It had not betrayed us.

We simply did not understand it.

As for me, I became a wealthy man after that day. I left piracy behind completely. I never set foot on another ship, and I never chose to live anywhere near the sea. I had spent enough of my life surrounded by waves, storms, pirates, and cursed treasures. I wanted nothing more to do with any of them.

And the compass?

I threw it back into the sea.

I know what some people might think. After finding such a legendary artifact, why would anyone throw it away?

Because I had learned what the Dutchman’s Compass truly was.

It was not simply a magical object that could lead people to treasure. It was a cursed relic that brought out the worst parts of those who chased it. It did not change me into a different person, but it showed me what greed could do to people, and I will carry those memories for the rest of my life.

I love the life I have now and I love being far from the sea.

But even after all these years, whenever I hear the sound of waves crashing against the shore, I remember that storm, that compass, and the treasure waiting beneath the darkness.

I survived, I became rich, but I was scarred for life. All I can do is move forward and focus on the future I still have and hope that no one else shall face the same fate as I did.