Buried Treasure

My Niece Alexis, who just turned 4

This started about a month ago. With all the craze of the Pirates of the Caribbean, my niece, Alexis, just knew that Nana (my mom) had a pirate's chest buried in her backyard. She would go over and without fail ask my mom to help her DIG for this pirate's chest. She would hand her a garden trowel, look up with pleading eyes and say, "Please." Well what could she do? What any self deserving Nana would. I mean she had to protect her image. DIG! DIG! DIG! Knowing all the while there was not a buried chest. As she got up from digging, ever so slowly, (her knees can take just so much) for the umpteenth time. My mom said to herself, "This ole Nana is going to fix this!" and busied herself. Low and behold she found a small treasure chest (jewelry box) and quickly filled it with some old looking jewelry and coins. She buried it in a spot that she knew was one of their spots to dig and waited. Sure enough the day came and Alexis came over and said "Please dig with me; I just know there is a chest out there!" She stared digging and found it. She was so excited. She kept saying, "Nana look!" She opened it and could not believe the treasure she found inside! She called her Mom and Dad and told them. After about five minutes, she had calmed down, and while holding her chest she looked up at my mom and asked very seriously, "Nana, will the pirate be mad at me for taking his treasure chest?" My mom said, "Ohhhhh noooo honey! This is a very nice pirate. He's funny too. Can't you just see the look on his face when he goes and digs and digs and there won't be any chest!" Although my mom was smiling all the while, she could tell that Alexis wasn't convinced. That night Alexis asked if she could keep the chest in my mom's closet. She was spending the night over there. She checked on her pirates chest first thing the next morning when she woke up. She said, "Nana, look the pirate didn't find the chest!"

Who could resist those brown eyes and that smile?