Title: The Valley of a Thousand Faces
Form: story
Language: en
Canonical URL: https://pembaumoja.com/en/stories/valley-of-a-thousand-faces

Captain Tortuga set off to the Cocos Island, 532 kilometers off the coast of Costa Rica. They had visions of discovering the largest treasure ever hidden in the Pacific, the famed Tesoro de las Palmas.

When they arrived, they landed on Bosque de Palmas Beach. There were white sands and turquoise waters. Captain Tortuga and his men felt like they had arrived in paradise. The coconuts were plump and filled with sweet coconut water.

After several days resting and playing there after a long sea journey, the pirates hiked into the dense forest to the Temple of the Dead Pirates. It was an area filled with danger at every turn, trap doors, poisonous snakes, and scorpions, secret chutes to dungeons.

None of Captain Tortuga’s men wanted to enter, but the map to the treasure was hidden below.

When the pirates entered, a giant wall of boulders fell upon them, hitting two of Captain Tortuga’s men in the head. Yet another was attacked along a dark, damp hallway by a hundred scorpions. Nothing was left of him afterwards except bone.

Now there were seven.

Fortunately, they found the treasure map upon a high altar with the words, “Holder Beware.”

After the Temple of the Dead Pirates, the troupe made their way to the Harbor of Rusty Anchors, a graveyard for pirate ships. The keys to the treasure chest were supposed to be on the ship of the one-eyed Captain Flamingo.

Captain Flamingo had sailed the seven seas a hundred years before. His boat was crumbling at the seams. Its anchor had turned bright red with rust.

Captain Tortuga’s second mate, Francisco Alvarez, was a very strong swimmer, the strongest of the crew. He battled the 10-foot high waves and climbed over jagged rocks with tips as sharp as spears.

Finally, Francisco boarded the ship and found the keys hidden in, of all places, the galley cupboard.

With the keys in hand, the pirates were now able to enter the Valley of a Thousand Faces. It was an odd place. Everywhere you looked, a tree, a cliff, a bush, stones on the ground, it appeared as though a face was looking back at you. A valley of a thousand faces.

Some of the faces were grim, others smiling, some laughing.

The Valley of a Thousand Faces was lush with greenery, filled with avocados and coconuts. Waterfalls flowed abundantly from high cliffs, providing all the ice-cold fresh water the pirates could drink.

Near the tallest of the waterfalls, the Waterfall of the Man with the Long Neck, there was a giant horse formed by stone. Its tail pointed like a finger at the ground, seeming to say, here it is, here is what you are looking for.

The spot coincided with the X on the treasure map.

Captain Tortuga and his men pulled out their shovels. They dug and dug and dug, ten meters into the earth and found a cave filled with cool air and pointy stalagmites and towering stalactites of all different colors, the colors of rainbows.

And there it was, beneath the arc of the rainbow, a chest almost the size of Captain Tortuga’s ship.

The panels and rivets were pure gold. Emeralds, sapphires, and all types of jewels decorated the massive lid. The keys from Captain Flamingo’s ship worked.

There was so much wealth and the chest was so heavy that the men could only take a small part, stuffing it into sacks.

Inside the chest were unimaginable treasures, necklaces of rare pearl, chalices of gold, mirrors of emerald, rings, medallions, pure gold crowns.

Francisco found a gold ring with a dolphin engraved upon it that fit him perfectly.

As they climbed to the surface, they were met with radiant sunshine. The waterfalls glistened, rainbows lined the valley in a row of arches.

The men plucked avocados from the trees and devoured them in hunger. It was the most beautiful place they had ever seen, a paradise.

All that they wanted was at their fingertips, fish in the sea, fruit upon the tree, freshwater.

Captain Tortuga looked at his men and reflected in a pool of crystal clear water. He too smiled, the rocks within the pool took the shape of his face.

“I’m not leaving here,” he gasped.

“This is paradise,” cried out the men.

And so they returned the treasure to keep it safe and covered the hole. They set up camp in the valley and lived out a full life there.

When it came time, each man died with a smile on his face. The trees, rocks, and shrubs took the form of their smiling faces.

The valley is no longer called the Valley of a Thousand Faces. It is now called the Valley of a Thousand and Seven Faces.

Captain Tortuga found a place right next to the horse’s tail to watch over his treasure and the valley forever.
