Sometimes, all that glitters really is gold.

Or so says a friend commenting on a picture posted on Facebook of her mug and mine.  I was in a gold jacket.  We both had grand smiles.  All was a’glittering.  Especially that jacket.

Gold.  Even if we don’t have gold fever, gold affects each and every one of our lives.  From our monetary system to the heritage of the Western United States to the problem of modern slavery and mercury in our oceans.  Gold has the uncanny ability to lasso the attention of humans.  That power should be added to the elements characteristics: Au is its symbol, it has 118 neutrons, it has a cubic crystal structure, and it enchants humanity.

Let’s all get some gold fever, shall we?

Writing Prompt #14 – All That Glitters

Have you ever panned for gold?  Well, I have, but that’s a story for another post.  Whether you’ve dipped a pie tin in a creek bed or swirled dozens of plastic bowls full of grit and brown water,  the writing prompt today is all about the anticipation of finding that unprocessed bling and describing an action with minimal understanding of the process.  I’m going to supply you with the general steps and you will use your creative brain to flesh out the scene.  We will be moving from the first shovel of dirt to finding gold (or perhaps not finding it) in the bottom of the pan.  All the while, the reader of your piece should be feeling antsy to get that gold, excited to see if a nugget awaits them.  What else could end up in the pan besides rocks and metals?  Any special surprises?

Work off this general outline.  Feel free to do more research but tap into your creativity to fill in the gaps in your knowledge (or lack thereof) of panning for gold.  This exercise is about building specifics in a scene when you only have a skeleton.  Pack that baby full of written gold.

Step 1 – Place a shovel full of dirt, rocks, and sand from the middle of the creek bed into your pan.

Step 2 – Add water to the pan and pull out the big rocks.

Step 3 – Swirl.  (But how, you might ask?  You tell us).

Step 4 – Get the smaller stones out of the pan.

Step 5 – Get down to the sand, white and black.

Step 6 – Get rid of the white sand (that should be an interesting feat, no?)

Step 7 – Sift away the black sand to find…gold?  Lead sinkers?  Toe bones?