Heart of Gold
By T. Delaplain
Exhausted and weighed down by the dust and muck of the day, the miners gazed at the flames, taking away no warmth or solace.
Twelve men gone, brothers in grit and gold. They’d chased riches together, one shovelful at a time but the silence tonight was louder than any coin’s clink. These men would be grasping for more than the mother lode as they chased slumber, haunted by echoes of the men they were forced to leave behind. Max strummed and began to tell the stories of the dead and of these heroes, the last to leave the search.
You can find more stories about Max at Of Men and Whore or An Emptiness or Whiskey For My Men
Join us at Friday Fictioneers. Our hostess, Rochelle Wisoff will give you 100 words to write your story. You never know what treasure you’ll find as you mine this week’s photo from Dale Rogerson’s collection.
Tracey Delaplain, MD 
Tough times, grit for gold.
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Lots of grit and loss but not much gold. The story of mining. Thanks for stopping by to read.
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Money! And the price they paid for its lure
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It has always been so. Thanks Neil.
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A tragic story beautifully told. The sad tale of chasing riches. Well done, Tracey!
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Thank you. I’m from Nevada and we grew up around ghosts and mining stories.
Tracey
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So many dreamers, so few succeeded. Nicely done Dr. Tracey!
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Thanks for the photo and your common. I saw it on FB a few weeks ago and thought about gold mining and here we are.
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My pleasure! How wonderful you kept your idea 😀
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there are a lot of risks involved in working in a mine, such as illness and injury from poor working conditions. it’s little wonder that miners have a shorter lifespan compared to the average population.
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True during the Gold Rush of the U.S. territories and still true today.
Thanks for your comment,
Tracey
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A very wise message here – and the call for more silver (or stuff or the coin’s clink) can sneak up on folks and I liked this line most: “the silence tonight was louder than any coin’s clink”
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Thank you, I liked that line too. People make a lot of bad decisions in pursuit of wealth.
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oh yes – and that is why the old saying says the “love of money is the root of all evil” and not that “money itself is” – it is our pursuit of it and then perhaps what we give up while going for more –
also, I once heard someone ask, “how much does your money cost you?” and that spoke to me
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I grew up in Colorado, another gold mining country. So many wishes gone wrong.
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There are stories in them there hills.
Thanks Lish,
Tracey
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The stuff of folk songs.
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Yes indeed. Several come to mind.
Thank you for commenting,
Tracey
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You have a wonderful writing style! Lots of heart and the tone draws the reader in. Very nice!
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What a lovely comment, thank you for taking the time to read my tales.
Tracey
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Your story put me in mind of all the ’49ers who went to California when gold was discovered there. So many died, some struck it rich. Most who survived found other jobs and settled for good.
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The Gold Rush is part of Northern Nevada’s legacy as well. Thank you for dropping me a line, Tracey
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Your story reads like an ode to all the miners lost through the years. Very nicely written, especially this line: “haunted by echoes of the men they were forced to leave behind.” which makes the reader (or at least me) stop and think about what we’re actually reading about.
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Thank you. I think everyone should think about the human price of mining; gold, uranium, diamonds, copper, coal. It’s a dangerous road to riches.
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I saw a movie a long time ago about a coal mine disaster in (I think) the Appalachians and it was a very difficult movie to watch.
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This hits hard. I live in Alaska, and this is a part of our heritage.
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My roots are in Northern Nevada and mining is still part of our legacy. Thank you for commenting. Tracey
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Querida Tracey,
I loved “brothers in grit and gold.” Well done, Doc.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Garcias amiga.
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Love historical fiction.Good one, Doc.
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