Treasure Hunt For Love (Short Story)

I threw my heart into the sea one day, as it only seemed to be causing me much sorrow and pain.

I had no need of such worthless emotions. I did not wish to suffer.

However, after a while, I started to miss my heart badly. Because without sorrow, I could not feel happiness or joy either.

So finally, I decided to go on a journey to retrieve what I had once, in such careless abandon, thrown away.

He insisted on coming along too.

"Just to make sure you don't get yourself into some silly scrape," he said.

To me, he was just a normal friend. Sure, I'd talked to him and we'd bumped into each other on the road sometimes, but I had never really noticed him before until that fateful day when I decided to find my heart back.

I simply shrugged and said nothing. He took my silence as a yes.

Even so, I thought to myself, it would be good to have a companion by my side.

So we journeyed far and wide, through storms and peril. No matter what happened, he always made sure I was all right even though I knew he was suffering too.

He never once complained.

After a week or two, I was almost ready to give up. The sea was far too big. To find my heart in the midst of such boundless waters was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"It's no use," I said despondently. "We'll never find my heart at the rate we're going."

But he was the one who persuaded me not to give up so easily.

"Don't stop now," he told me repeatedly. "We must be close to your heart. I can feel it with my own."

Then he'd give me a cute, crooked grin that always made me feel all funny. Which was strange because I'd already thrown my heart away. I was not supposed to feel anything.

I never stopped to wonder why he was so strangely determined and without a heart, I dared not trust my thinking.

Then, one day, I gave a shout of triumph. We had reached an island with a big red "X" marked across its sands.

"This must be it," I said to him excitedly.

So we grabbed our shovels, hopped onto the island and started digging. After a while, we hit upon a chest buried deep inside. With much anticipation, I heaved the chest out and tried to open the lid.

However, to my dismay, it was locked. Yet, he was still grinning as though nothing was wrong.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked him.

He never spoke a word. Instead, pulling out a key from his pocket, he inserted the key into the lock and turned it. The lid opened and lo, and behold, there was my heart, as delicate and fragile as the paper it was nestled within. Bright red and pulsing with life.

I felt a rush of happiness almost at once but there was something I still didn't quite understand.

"How is it that you have the key?"

He stared at me, a curious gleam in his eyes.

"When you threw your heart into the sea that very day, I retrieved it and kept it here in a safe place for you."

He took out my heart from the chest and passed it to me.

"Here, I think this belongs to you."

Now it was my turn to stare at him. Slowly, I shook my head and smiled at him.

"No, keep it. For I have already lost my heart to you."

He looked rather shocked at first, for he'd never seen me smile and had probably never expected me to say what I'd said.

But the shy smile that spread across his face was the sweetest I'd ever seen.

"And I've lost mine to you ever since the day I got to know you," he said softly.

I smiled again. Words could never express the happiness in my heart.

During this journey, I have searched for my heart, found it, only to lose it again.

Yet, I didn't mind. For I know it is in good hands.

And I have found love.