‘You can’t be serious,’ I gaped up at my big brother, crouched over a pile of dirt in the forest. ‘You actually found the treasure?’
‘We found the treasure!’ he whooped, jumping to his feet and punching the air. A nearby owl, spooked by the unexpected noise, let out an annoyed hoot! and flew off.
‘Is it gold?’ I asked, eyes widening with images of my future. ‘Jewels?’
‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ my brother said, dropping to his knees and almost manically clawing at the earth. ‘Grab a shovel, help me dig!’
I dutifully did as I was told, rushing over to where we’d laid our tools down and grabbing the first shovel my hands touched. I threw it to him, then grabbed one for myself and hurried back.
I quickly attacked the same spot he was working in, and we fell into a fast rhythm – shovel, dirt, shovel, dirt, shovel… clink!
We both paused, his shovel raised in the air ready to scoop downwards, mine pressed against something hard, something buried deep. We shared an excited grin.
‘Oh, we’re definitely going to need a buyer’s advocate who specialises in Hampton homes,’ he chuckled, his teeth and eyes flashing white. ‘Let’s get it up!’
We threw the shovels to the side, dropping to our knees and scooping the soil up with our bare hands.
‘What if being rich changes us?’ I pondered between exerted grunts.
‘What?’
‘Being rich,’ I repeated, slowing down slightly. ‘What if it makes us worse people?’
‘Please,’ my brother scoffed. ‘When has that ever happened to someone that got unexpected money?’
‘Hmmmm….’ I frowned, staring up at the moon. ‘Good point. Oh, by the way, I don’t like the sound of your suburb. I think we should look somewhere different with the buyer’s advocate. Malvern, maybe?’
‘Malvern?’ he paused, shooting me a perplexed look. ‘Are you insane?’
‘What’s wrong with Malvern?’
‘What’s wrong with…’ he echoed me, gaping like a fish. ‘It’s not Hampton, that’s what’s wrong with it!’
‘Suddenly your suburb is better than mine?!’
‘Why, I oughta–‘
He threw himself at me in a rage.