There’s a little secret our village has been hiding: it has a gold mine. You’ll never find it on a map because it’s marked as an abandoned iron mine. It was discovered in 1903, temporarily closed in 1922 and was intermediately mined until 1963 (or 1968 and 1970, depending on the resource) when it was permanently closed. I’ve been there once, and the looming fog gave it a real creepy feeling. There was a large rock plateau, a pile of mined stones, and a small entrance leading into the mountain. It wasn’t the spectacle that I hoped for and there weren’t nuggets of gold just sitting around waiting to be pocketed, which would have been great considering the current price of gold. There is also something particular about the gold, something that has probably kept most prospectors out: it’s sandwiched in between layers of arsenic, and the odor can be detected just by rubbing a rock. When I went there with an old friend, she neglected to tell me that until I asked about the odor and I walked with my hands in the air until I could find a puddle to wash them off.
Luckily, there’s not enough gold to justify reopening the mine, but enough to develop some fantasies, for example, I would like a heated indoor swimming pool, a well-equipped work-out room, and a shiny new car. Speaking of fantasies, maybe there is enough gold after all; I’m gonna get out my prospectoring hat, pick and shovel, gold pan, and anti-arsentic protective gloves. I got long list, so I better get moving.
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