The Gold Nugget – Stephen Myer

Then I held it up for all men to see. To each I offered a pittance of the spoils, but none agreed to join my search.

“Abandon your plan. Stay with us,” they pleaded. “Do not wallow in thoughts of the bitter past or the impatient future where Death dwells.”

“Idiots!” I shouted. “No bitter past exists in golden morrows.”

 

* * *

Many years I toiled in solitude, seeking my father’s treasure abandoned at the end of the rainbow. Each night I tumbled through whiskey dreams that promised shouts of ‘Eureka’ upon awakening. I grew old waiting for that word as I spent my life foolishly traversing a colorful arc of delusion. The reward at rainbow’s end yielded a trough brimming with golden despair. Yes, Brother, torment does lay quiet, but only for so long.

I committed to ending this travesty. I ambled along the shoreline, gazing into the distance—the edge of the world, as Augur put it. I held the nugget up to the night sky and watched it throb. It was then I realized the cursed rock had led me into the dark and unspoken precincts of my father’s singular tale.

The rumbling sea wrapped me in its starlit cloak. Waves crashed against my addled thoughts. About to cast the nugget and myself into the sea, I heard the melody of my long-lost spirit girl. Had she returned to bid farewell to this shameful lout? I followed the sweet sound which led to an open door of a red house. Tallow candles hung above a balustrade, illuminating a winding staircase.

“Cindy. Is that you, girl?” I called in broken cadence, my throat choking on the cobwebs of age.

“Oh, Marcus, you’ve come back.”

“I hear, but cannot see you.”

“In the room, at the top of the stairs.”

I climbed the staircase. A door stood ajar and I entered. A lantern sat upon a table. Its flickering light threw shadows across an empty room. The flame soon steadied and my spirit girl arrived from the world I’d left behind. 

“Face me,” I said. “Let me gaze in delight.”

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  1. Michael says:

    Well written fable. Thoughtful ideas about man search for things of lesser value that hide more important issues. Do we suffer little deaths while searching for the unattainable? What should we be doing instead? What is living all about? Thoroughly enjoyable and thoughtful read.

  2. Paula keane says:

    Beautifully written

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