Glittering Gold

Chapter 1: Regrettable Decisions

The sweeping breeze of warm wind touched my face and brought my hair to life, whipping it around to dance across my slender shoulders. I closed my eyes against the burning glow of the sun taking a moment to breathe in the tangy scent of the ocean that was wafting up to me from the edges of the harbor. I tilted my head back, letting the glaring rays of the sun graze my cheeks. When I opened my eyes my breath caught in my throat at the sight of the orange orb dropping into the waves, a beautiful golden color stretching out across the water where the sun touched it.

I dug my toes deeper into the powdery white sand and let out a sigh. This was what paradise felt like. The warmth, the comfort, and the permanent gold that was fixated everywhere I went. A smile played on my lips as I peered further out at the sun tucking itself into the blankets of the churning waves. This had to be the most wonderful birthday present I had ever gotten.

To say I was surprised when my best friend told me he was taking me to the Caribbean for my eighteenth birthday would be a devastating understatement. We had just graduated a week ago and when he had told me that what he had in store for me was a birthday and a graduation present combined I thought he had something like taking me out on a picnic or to the beach planned. Well he had certainly taken me to the beach and we did have a picnic the other night; however it was in a small town on a secluded strip of land in the Caribbean. Eroded cliffs guarded the outskirts of the town and boats and ships of varying sizes adorned the harbor resting in front of the town like floating decorations.

The only thing that could make this trip better would be if I could have my parents with me too. My biological parents that is. My adoptive parents were great but they weren’t enough to fill the curious gap in my heart. I wanted to know what kind of people my parents were, I wanted to know their habits, and their life stories. I wanted to know about their adventures, but most importantly I wanted to know why they abandoned me, and why they abandoned me with the little trinket of a necklace that had been wrapped around my neck for as long as I could remember.

I grabbed for the familiar weight nestled against my chest and gazed down thoughtfully at it. The chain was light, frail looking and a pale gold, but that wasn’t what made the necklace absurd and odd. What made me wonder why I had it was the heavy skull ring made entirely of amber stones hanging from the chain. The stones caught a beam of fading light and glinted a honey color as I stared at the intriguing bobble. I had never seen a piece of jewelry like it before and the constant question of why it was mine never failed to nag me.

When I had asked my adoptive parents about it all they could tell me was that I was wearing it when they got me, or rather, found me. Apparently eighteen years ago an incessant knocking had woken them in the late hours of the night and when they went down stairs to see what sort of person would cause such a ruckus at three a.m. there was no one there but instead a sleeping baby coddled in a thin blanket with my name stitched on it on their porch.

And so the couple adopted me and raised me as their own, making it a clear fact that albeit I wasn’t their actual daughter they loved me as such and were thankful to have me seeing as they weren’t capable of having children of their own. There was one issue though, as much as I loved the Johnson’s, I could never bring myself to fully become their daughter. It never felt right. I was Cora Gold and that’s who I was going to be. The Johnson’s always did say that I had a rebellious streak and tended to do what I wanted when I wanted. If I wanted my last name to be Gold then that’s how it was. They said I didn’t do well with listening and I was infuriatingly stubborn. But despite the grief I more than occasionally caused for them they did give me enough to have a good life. The only problem was, they weren’t my actual parents that were giving me a good life.

They weren’t Mr. and Mrs. Gold, whoever they may be. I didn’t even know their first names. All I had of them was the necklace.

“There’s my best girl! What’s up with the sad face.” A familiar masculine voice asked behind me. I gave the ring one last squeeze before letting it thump against my chest. I half turned my face to smile weakly at the dark haired male walking towards me.