The Curse

When considering how the curse began, there should be no surprise when the consequences of evil rise to the surface hundreds of years later.

When the Spanish conquistadors discovered massive silver and gold deposits in Central and South America the world changed forever. To show his determination to move forward in the conquest of power and riches, Hernán Cortés burned his ships to show his men there would be no turning back.

Throughout the middle to late 1500s, a steady caravan of mined silver and gold traveled to Mexican and South American ports and then onward to Havana Cuba before shipping out in the treasure fleets that yearly sailed for Spain and other ports of the Old World.

The heartache and cruelty that rose out of the ground alongside the precious metals was legendary. Indigenous people were conscripted and used as forced labor under wretched conditions. The process for refining the almost limitless mountains of silver and gold required massive installations and the use of poisonous heavy metals such as mercury and lead. After an uncountable number of native ghosts rose above the tragic pits and followed more of the forced labor as they fell beside the caravans to where the treasure fleets waited, there now appears to be a penalty for the greed and the ruthless misery that is now tangible in the ancient silver and gold. 

Many of the treasure ships outward bound from Havana and sailing for Europe were sunk by massive hurricanes. Hurricanes that seemingly fell upon the treasure ships as if guided by a vengeance. On several occasions, Caribbean and Florida hurricanes wrecked and sank many of the yearly flotillas, and the gold and silver haunted by the forced labor has remained submerged and safe until the last few years.

The Marco Beach Boys and Girls that arrive on our islands to build a new life come from everywhere. The Boys and Girls of all ages arrive with high hopes and happy dreams for a fresh Florida future, but when something shining, bright, and mysterious rises out of the oceans - beware! There is a possibility that something invisible is attached to what has surfaced from a wretched and distant past.

When everyone first saw the small silver and gold coin, it was impressive. It was very old, it came from a submerged shipwreck, which was also very old, and there was an aura of mystery and intrigue surrounding the ancient coin that demanded attention. As with many old relics and artifacts however, the origins and mystery began to fade as the new piece of jewelry found a place of honor around the recipient’s neck.

After only a few weeks, the misfortune began. Opportunities at work that appeared solid in the previous month suddenly seemed to fall apart. Unforeseen expenses popped up out of nowhere and a strange shadow of doubt seemed to descend on everything and every action for the Marco Beach Boy that was now wearing the ancient coin-of-the-realm as a necklace.

In the months that followed, there was more turmoil. A solid company that was safe and secure was suddenly up for sale and the Beach Boy with the gold and silver shipwreck coin for a necklace was suddenly facing the reality of a forced career change. A career where a college degree and numerous and prestigious awards were suddenly dust collectors in a new world of uncertainty and doubt. Morale dropped to new lows with every degrading disappointment until finally after about six months of steady decline, the Marco Beach Boy took off the ancient coin that was now a modern necklace and placed it in the back of a desk drawer.

At a weekend retreat, with two other couples, the Beach Boy offered a very superstitious observation. “I know this sounds crazy,” he declared. “But I think that old, shipwrecked gold and silver coin is bad luck. I think it might have a curse.”

Everyone laughed until we heard the list of terrible details from the last few months. 

After another few shaky weeks and the treasure ship coin that was now hidden away seemed to be still wreaking havoc on the lives of the owners, a decision was made to travel a few hundred miles up the coast to throw the necklace with the haunted coin back into the ocean. 

With another Beach Boy and Girl watching the couple with the coin - on a beach in Central Florida - the offending necklace was walked out into waist-deep water and was thrown as far as possible into the Gulf of Mexico.

After walking out into the gulf and throwing away what he sincerely believed to be a cursed coin, the Marco Beach Boy and the Marco foursome on the Central Florida beach decided to have a nice meal to celebrate the end of the haunted era. When a parking place was found at a popular restaurant, and with the ancient, shipwrecked coin and resting once again on the bottom of the sea, the Marco Beach Boy saw and found upon the ground of the bustling parking lot, a good luck horseshoe necklace laced with tiny diamonds.

Another Beach Girl on the island of Sanibel decided to follow the same trend and gave her husband who was a very successful fishing captain and guide, another necklace with another gold and silver coin from the ancient shipwrecks. The same pattern followed with misfortune, danger, and doubt. This case, however, was worse. After only a few months, the recipient of the ancient coin received a diagnosis of cancer and began many treatments of chemotherapy. With the fishing guide so weak he could hardly drive his boat, he and his wife rode out into the gulf to throw the offending coin back to where it would be hopefully safe on the bottom of the sea. Soon after the ancient gold and silver disappeared in the waves, the fishing captain’s cancer went into remission. Coincidence or curse, all of the above is a true story. 

Tom Williams is a Marco Islander. He is the author of two books: “Lost and Found” and “Surrounded by Thunder - the Story of Darrell Loan and the Rocket Men.” Both books are available on Kindle and Nook.