© Jennifer Pendergast
We pulled in at the cairn, walked five metres east then ten metres north as our instructions directed. There we would find the token of proof. We had a compass. We didn’t have the directions wrong but maybe our pacing was out. Four hours we searched. Jolly hungry we were too. It wasn’t supposed to take this long.Pity all contestants had different instructions. We could have cheated. Lunch, in town, was long gone and as the shadows lengthened, we finally gave up searching, defeated.
Paddling home we saw another cairn. Perhaps, surely not, but likely — ours was the wrong one.
Rochelle hosts Friday Fictioneers each week. All are welcome to join in and write a 100 word flash, then add their link via the blue frog found on her site. Otherwise use the blue frog to see other people’s responses to the photo prompt which this week is courtesy of Jennifer Pendergast.
About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
Simple spin-off idea, and very effective ! 🙂
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Thanks M-R. I once went on a car rally with Roger and we diligently completed the first page of instructions and waited for everyone to turn up. They didn’t and after a number of hours we gave up. On the way home we discovered that the next instructions were on the back of the piece of paper. Duh! 🙂
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[grin]
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I feel their frustration, Irene.
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Yes, these types of things stop being fun when you can’t find the necessary token.
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Wonderfully vague.
As were the instructions, apparently!
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Or someone had a bit of a laugh and made a cairn to mislead rather than lead.
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Dear Irene,
As one who is often directionally challenged, I felt their frustration. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle.
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And thank you for the five star review. It was a pleasant surprise this morning. 😀 (I’m assuming Roger Waters is you.)
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You are welcome Rochelle. I enjoyed the book immensely. Yes roger is me or at least me buying on his account.
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Oh.. and yes the pot of gold will stay for the next treasure hunter.. or maybe for the next day.
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That’s a nice thought. Perhaps they went in there and then.
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How disappointing! I feel for those contestants. I wonder if they have time to quickly do the pacing on the other cairn?
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I guess it depends on whether they think the treasure is worth the effort at this point in the day.
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Oh I can imagine the frustration. I’ve only been on one treasure hunt and I hated it. Nice take on the prompt.
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Thanks Sandra. I’ve only been on one also and didn’t make it to the end – not used to double sided printing in those days.
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Oh dear! Another cairn. The wrong cairn! Well done.
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Thanks Norah. They are meant to guide but I think in this case it was mislead.
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Very vague, but I liked that. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I felt like nor were they! I think i’d have checked out that second cairn though…
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Maybe they did check it out. They were probably curious to know if the error was in the cairn. Glad you liked the vagueness.
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That could ruin your whole day. 😦
janet
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Absolutely. Cheers Irene
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When in doubt, go geocaching!
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Hi Dave,
You’ve introduced me to a new pursuit. I’d never heard of geocaching but having looked it up I think that would be a lot of fun. They have one in Australia so I may start there. Cheers Irene
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I too am directionally challenged. I would never even attempted such a trip so bravo to them for that!
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I wouldn’t try the paddling that is for sure.
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This reminds me how much we love treasure hunting that we’ll even invent games around the seeking. I once believed that Kit Carson lost an ornate gold and silver cannon in an unmarked gulch behind the town I grew up in. I’d ride those canyons every summer hoping for a glimpse. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I thought, what the heck would a frontier explorer be doing hauling a show cannon over the Sierra Nevadas? But I loved looking!
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LOL. Yes we were always playing treasure maps as kids and the one car rally we went on we didn’t finish because I didn’t think to turn the instruction page over. One of my commenters has just introduced me to geocaching where hidden treasure is placed all round the world. You find it with GPS help and there is a log book where you record date and time found, then replace it exactly where you found it. Presumably it is a race to find all the treasure before anyone else or a nice way to wander the world aimlessly yet with purpose.
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It’s better to give up and go home than keep looking and get lost in the jungle. Nice tale!
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Thanks but I don’t think defeat was in their vocabulary.
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It looks like just the kind of place to have a treasure hunt. Imaginative take.
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Thanks Margaret. I agree treasure hunts are fun.
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This would have had my husband in a serious sweat! He absolutely hated being lost and would have cursed the lack of clear directions!
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I can understand that your husband would have been frustrated. There is nothing worse than searching aimlessly when perhaps the directions were bad, or perhaps just bad luck another cairn had been erected which through them off.
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Let’s just say we could never have been on Amazing Race!!
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LOL
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I love it. Poor people, so frustrated. People from my workplace will go geocaching in a few weeks (workplace summer excursion), I wonder how many will make it to dinner, where the rest of us, who go wine tasting, will wait.
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At least GPS co-ordinates can’t be wrong (unless the battery fails.) Enjoy your wine – I think you made the right choice of activity.
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Oh this brings back memories while in the Army. More than once we wound up at the wrong place after tracking many miles through the wilderness. There were no GPS back then — just dead reckoning. GREAT STORY with this prompt. (Hey, and you were first posting as well)
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Thanks Mike. You know how they felt then. GPS makes all these things so much easier. Unless of course the batteries go flat.
Some times you see the photo prompt and get an immediate idea and others it takes a day or two mulling it over to even come up with a glimmer.
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My wife, Nan (the writer in our family), said that is so true.
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None of the treasure hunt stories paint a rosy picture. Nicely done.
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There would probably be no story if they came up rosy. Thanks
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A humorous and well-narrated story of missed directions.
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Glad it brought a smile. Thank you
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darn, i don’t think a GPS would in this case either.
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Probably not.
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Lovely. Let your stomach guide you next time.
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I certainly will.
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Aa treasure hunt gone awry. But with disappointment and frustration as lessons learnt, its a gain in life. Viewing from a different angle.
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A nice angle to view it from. Yes, we learn from everything and if that hadn’t happened perhaps they were save from food poisoning that the rest of them got. You just never know.
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Irene -you weren’t in the Lake District were you? I’ve been there and done the same thing… incredibly frustrating especially when you meet up with clever sods who got there without a hitch!! Great take on the prompt.
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Thanks Dee. No although having visited the Lakes District I can believe it would easily happen.
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Love the feel of mystery here … a great write and has me wanting to know more!
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Glad you felt like that. I want to know what they do too. They have a few options. 🙂
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Indeed … perhaps you’ll find a way to work out another story for us on the same theme 😉
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Perhaps. I’ll see where the next prompt takes me. 🙂
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🙂 very wise indeed!
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I feel sad for the contestants as they with hope rowed, walked ,searched till they were hungry and tired.
http://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2015/09/boat.html?m=1
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That is such a kind thought Kalpana. Bit by bit their enthusiasm would have waned.
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were you searching for happiness? that’s what we rarely find
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A nice thought to hold. 🙂
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I fee their pain. My dad had a wonderful sense of direction. I didn’t inherit it. Good story and well done, Irene. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Thanks Suzanne. A sense of direction comes in handy at times. Pity your Dad didn’t pass it on.
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The fourth word is supposed to be “pain.” Sorry for the typo. 😦
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Well, I got that wrong again. The second word is supposed to be “feel.” 😦 🙂
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I loved those kinds of races when I was a kid. Thank you for taking me back there with your lovely story.
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Glad it brought back memories for you.
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