Treasure, tons of shiny gold and silver, and precious jewels. Greed, ravenous, and depraved. Deceit, dishonesty, and treachery. And of course, a beautiful woman. Cuba, Key West, and Mexico. There were a million places that treasure could be hidden. Complications ensnared us. Dead ends blocked our way. And the reaper was impatient. Whenever you look for lost treasure, then somebody's looking for you. Evil men knew what they wanted. Not being able to have it did nothing to deter them. It wouldn’t be the first time they took what wasn’t theirs. In fact, they enjoyed it better that way. And us, the Key West misfits, normal guys that aren’t quite normal. Soldier of fortune vagabonds. Ok, sometimes clowns.

True things that never happened? A golden jaguar, sleek and brilliant even after all those years. Eyes of emerald the size of silver dollars winked at us. They blinked as the light of our torches reflected off their facets. The thing weighed a ton. Well maybe not that much. But it had heft to it. Old wrecks and adventure leads to drinking, action, and a hell of a life. Sometimes you bite off more than you can chew. But if you don’t choke to death, you’ll live through it. Sooner or later foul weather hits us all. It’s just the way of the sea. A lovely day of clear blue skis can quickly turn evil. It’s a lesson learned, as usual, the hard way. The odds were not in our favor. But that's what makes a remarkable story.

We're only here for a brief time. We want our time to last forever but know that’s just not going to happen. So, work for whatever treasure you seek. Dance while you still can. Excuses come later. Not now. Believe me, I know. Yeah do I know. I lost my job, my house, my money, and most of my hair. But I found myself right after I lost everything. You fall, tough luck. You get back up or get stepped on. Your choice. You don’t like where you are, move. A lot of people start over in key west. I know because I'm one of them.