Lyric Hildner

The cold clear water rushed over his hands. His pan moved under the sand and
dirt. He pulled it up, letting most of the water rush out and started to move it back and
forth, which pushed most of the sand and dirt out of the pan. He was left with small
flakes of minerals. He noticed one in particular. Gold, he spoke to himself in a quiet
voice, I knew it was coming from up the canyon. Hed been working on this river for a
good month, moving farther and farther up the canyon, getting closer and closer to the
vein in which the gold was being eroded from. Once he realized the significance of this
one find, he smiled. The small amount of gold flakes he had found, together equalled
more than all of the other flakes he had found down river. The man was soaked from the
knees down as he walked back to shore with the pan full of gold flakes. The gold flakes
found themselves in a glass bottle along with even more gold flakes. These were the
biggest ones he had found though. The sun hit them at an angle that made them shine.
His eyes had flakes of gold in them as well. They were a blueish color with small golden
flakes throughout. His face was chiseled, and he had a dark brown head of hair. He was
around six foot three as well.
He walked back up the hill away from the creek and to his stuff, which was a
wooden wagon, filled with pickaxes and explosives, all of which was hidden in some
trees. He took a quick glance around, picked up the heavy wagon, and dragged it
behind him. Im tired of carrying my own stuff. he remarked to himself, again. He
talked to himself a lot, but what do you expect from being new in town and on a
mission? He walked a short while through the trees, and found himself on a small path
that led to the settlement of Francistown.
At this time, Francistown was nothing like it is today. It was big, but it was only
made that way because of the immense amount of people streaming in and out of it.
The town was on a major trading route from the east to west side of Africa, so it got a lot
of business. There were two hotels and some small businesses, but the major attraction
to the area was the gold mining. The year prior, gold had been found up the river from
where he had been. The river, as it goes north, snakes through a canyon, before
entering flatlands. The first gold strikes had been found in the canyon. It is in that
canyon, that he needs to be to find what he wants.
Once he had made it to the main street of the relatively small town, he went to
the pub. The pub was located about halfway through the town. If you were to look at it
from the air, youd only see a few buildings. There were only three streets, and the
center one held the highest percentage of the buildings. The pub, a hotel, a stable, and
some stores were located on the main street. The side streets only had a few houses
on them. Most of the other homes were in the hills and belonged to miners. The pub
was his favorite one back in London, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. The one that was down
here was Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese of the South. He liked it for its unchanging menu of
drinks, plus it reminded him of the original tavern in England. it was like being home, yet

not being even remotely close to home. Bitter was what he usually got. It is just an Ale
that was the most common form of alcohol in Great Britain. Inside the pub, he sat down
at the back booth and took his hat off. A waitress came over and looked at him with an
interested smile. Lawrence Whats with the dirt all over your face? He looked up and
smiled, So you remember my name this time? I never forgot. She replied a little
sarcastically, Lawrence Hastings. From England. I never forget someone from the
motherland. He knew she was lying a bit, but he forgot about it quickly. Do you
remember what I got last time? Of course, its what anyone else here would get if they
were from Britain. Bitter. She stated. She walked off and came back a few moments
later with a tall metal cup with a handle. He paid for it with what little money he had,
drank a little, and pulled the rest of his money out of his pocket, 10 pence. Not even a
shilling. Great. he said to himself looking down at the small pile on the table. He drank
the rest of his drink, said goodbye to the waitress, and walked back outside. He turned
and looked at the small building and took a sigh. He then walked to his wagon, which he
had hid behind the building in some bushes. It seemed like there was always a good
place to hide his stuff. Once he had grabbed his wagon, he headed north on the main
street, passed multiple homes and businesses and left town.
Leaving town reminded him of when he left England. It was around the same
time last year, except at that time, he didnt think he could do anything in life. His mother
and, mainly his father, had put him down so often for doing what he loved. At that time,
he had played with the idea of getting a job mining. He had heard of what was
happening down in the Protectorate of Bechuanaland, with the huge gold rush
happening down there. He had been practicing mining in a small hill down the way and
had come home covered in dirt. he was going to go wash off at the creek, but his father
saw he had brought dirt into his home. His father was furious with him for such a small
thing, but his father beat him anyways. His mother stood by, yelling at his father to stop,
but she didnt actually help him. That time really stuck out to him. It was embedded in
his mind.
He had walked into his home from the back door into the kitchen. He had been in
the forest, digging around in a hole that he had been digging for a few weeks. It was just
a practice hole for when he actually went and made his own first claim. It had rained the
night before and everything was muddy, but that didnt stop Lawrence. He was covered
in mud and dirt by the end of the day, so he decided to come home. Thats when he
walked into the kitchen. His father was sitting at the table and looked up at him. he had
a look of hatred on his face. Everything okay? Lawrence had asked. You know your
mother just cleaned? He stood up. I didnt know. Ill just grab some clean clothes and
go wash up. Lawrence tried to change the subject because he knew his dad got angry
fast. No. Youre gonna learn to respect your mother and what she does for this family.
he said sternly, walking a little closer to Lawrence. I do respect her; I know what she
does for the fam- he was cut off. His father had kicked his leg, sending him down to the
ground. He then picked him up and punched him in the gut. The sudden force of impact

had sent more mud to the floor, making his father angrier. How dare you bring a mess
into here! Im sorry! Im so so sorry Lawrence shouted through his tears. His father
continued to hit and kick him for another few minutes, finally throwing the table down on
Lawrences lag. His father broke his leg and left bruises almost everywhere. He needed
to leave, and he did. He left for South Africa on a steamboat later that month, getting
away from his unloving family and going to a new place to start anew.
It wasnt long before he reached the river. It was a few miles north of Francistown
and ran north-west. He turned to follow it towards the canyon. By the time he got close
enough to see some cliffs, it was already getting dark. He could hear other people
around, and see their campfires, so he pulled off of the path a little and set up camp. He
got a blanket out and laid down. The sky was clear that night, except for the building
thunderstorm to the south. He figured that it was over Gaborone in the south. He knew it
was storm because of the lightning that came and went every so often. He could hear a
slight rumble from the thunder, but it was so far off that it could just be something closer,
like a lion or something. He stopped thinking about. He was scaring himself. Just look
at the stars. he murmured to himself. The sky was open and it was pitch black. The
moon was just starting to rise, so he could see some stuff around him. The milky way
could be seen as a milky line across the sky, and he followed it back and forth. He fell
asleep to the image of the sky.
In the morning, he packed up again and started out next to the river. It was
moving slowly, or at least, thats what he thought. As Lawrence got closer to the canyon,
he could see the various claims all over the sides of it. People had already been here
for months, so he had no real hope of finding a perfect place. The only thing he could
imagine doing was going past everyone, farther up river, and closer to a local tribe
village. Those savages living uncivilized up in the hills. Lawrence had heard stories of
them taking women and children away, but he never thought it was that harsh. He just
didnt like that they werent as civilized as he was, or his culture was. Plus, there was
that little fear that the natives were as the other townspeople said they were. Savages.
After hours of walking and fearing and hoping, he had passed the last claim. It
was an old man, by himself. He had a small home, and a tunnel just next to it. Lawrence
wondered if thats something he would have. He hoped. He wished that he could have a
home to call his own up by his future claim. He needed a place to call his own, his own
home, because hed been staying out in the open for a month. He was tired of the dirt
and the hard ground. After another hour of making sure that he wouldnt encroach on
another mans claim, and making a new trail, he stopped. He guessed it was late
afternoon by the way the sun was situated in the sky, so he figured he might as well
stop and take a break. He set his stuff down off to the side, under a rock ledge, and
decided to look around. The trail he had taken had started to rise a while back and he
hadnt seemed to notice, until now. The river had fallen about a thousand feet into the
canyon. Wow. Dont fall. he noted to himself. Lawrence turned around and went to his
wagon, and pulled the glass bottle out. He watched the flakes fall around the inside of

the bottle and land on each other. His mouth formed a smile. The gold has to be
coming from this area! he exclaimed. He jumped up and grabbed one of the pickaxes
that was in his wagon. He immediately started breaking the hillside apart. Dirt was
pulled out and moved to side, while rock was pushed to the other side. It was dark when
Lawrence finally moved enough dirt and rock to start a mine portal. The cleared area
had started as the side of the hill, but was now a seven by seven cleared square in the
side of the hill. Thatll do for now.
He got his blanket out and found a comfy sand and dirt spot. It was a perfect
place to fall asleep. Maybe it wont be so bad out here. Ill find what I need to be rich
he nodded off.
In the morning, Lawrence awoke feeling the best he had in months, maybe
years. He laid in the sand for a few more minutes, just listening to the sounds. Birds and
the wind. He finally got up and ate his last can of cold beans. Im going to need some
more food soon. He said to himself as he grabbed a shovel and started working on
creating the tunnel into the hill. Before he started digging again, he took a moment to
look around. The canyon was thin at the base where the river was, but opened up into a
wider, valley like area. His mine was located up on one of the sides of the canyon and
was in a fairly gradually inclined area. The entire canyon was a shade of brown and tan,
but was intermixed with green bushes and trees. The river down below was wide and
loud enough to be heard up the long inclines of the sides of the canyon. It was actually
a beautiful place, being one of the only canyons in all of the protectorate. He turned
around and went back to work.
It wasnt long until he had hit hard rock. He went to his wagon and grabbed his
iron pickaxe. He swung and broke off a chunk of rock. A nugget, around the size of an
eye, fell out of the rock and hit the ground. Lawrence picked it up and held it to his eyes.
Yes! Yes yes yes! he yelled to no one. He danced around a little while still
holding it to his face. He then placed it in the bottle with the others. It was at least twenty
times bigger than the biggest flake he had found. He then turned back around to the
rock wall and swung a few more times with the pickaxe. He didnt find much else in
those swings, but he kept going. From what he had just found, it was obvious that there
was gold in this hill.
By the end of the day, he had made it a foot in to the hill and had found thirteen
more small nuggets of gold. Over the time period of the next few days, he made it
farther into the hill. His claim had turned from a small hole in the dirt, to a tunnel in the
rock. Lawrences pick wasnt sharp anymore, but was dull and short. he had started
using the rock pieces and dirt to create an area to build a house. He knew that this was
the perfect spot to set up a home.
Because his pickaxe was so worn down, he used one of his pieces of dynamite
to blow another few feet into his tunnel. Once it was set in place, and lit, he walked back
to entrance and covered his ears. The dynamite blew up and sent rock to the floor. Dust
poured out of the cave and into his face. His blue overalls and grey shirt turned an even

lighter shade of grey when to dirt settled on him. Glad I didnt have my good clothes on.
Wouldnt want to get them dirty. He spoke to himself as he walked down the short
tunnel. He bent down and started moving the rocks towards the entrance.
One day, he had gone up the hill farther and had found a tree with a huge trunk.
He cut it down for the wood and used it for beams to hold up his mine. He spent the
next few days digging farther and farther into the rock. His mine was now a long tunnel.
Light barely made its way to the back of the tunnel, and when it did, it was early in the
morning. Inside the mine, it was dark and dirty. It was freezing cold at night and blazing
hot during the day. When lawrence went into the mine, he always expected it to collapse
because of the heat doing something to his beams holding up the ceiling. It was always
dripping with water, as well. The water seeped down from the rocks and dirt above it,
making it humid in the tunnel. He had found another piece of dynamite lodged into his
wagon, behind some tools, and decided to use it to blow one more time in the tunnel. It
opened up a few more feet of tunnel and some open gold veins.
He smiled a bit and stood there. He started to leave the tunnel, when he felt a
breeze. He looked up and went back outside. He grabbed his lantern for more light and
walked to the back of the tunnel. He held it up to the rock, which was the direction from
where the breeze came from, and felt the wall. All of a sudden, his finger ran over a
hole. He brought the lantern up and looked into the hole. It lit up another room behind
the wall, which looked to go off in two different directions. A cave? Perfect! I dont even
need to make many more tunnels with this beautiful gift!
Lawrence got ahold of his pickaxe and swung it into the wall. It broke through into
the room after several more swings. Once the hole was big enough for Lawrence to go
through, he stopped and walked in. The roof wasnt super low, but if he wanted to, he
could reach up and touch it with ease. It was a fairly large, round room that was covered
in pictures. They looked to be old and were of hunters and animals and people. The
paintings continued down both of the side tunnels, but stopped at their dead ends. The
tunnel on the right actually came out at the roots of a Baobab tree, but was hidden.
lawrence decided to leave the caves and went to his camp. When he got out, he went to
his stuff and decided to start sleeping early that night.
He was ecstatic when he fell asleep. He couldnt wait to go to town tomorrow and
buy all of the supplies he needed. Finally, a pack animal or two, more than enough food,
better tools, maybe even lumber for a home. Who knew what he could come back with.
Once he woke up, he wasted no time in getting ready. He got his clean pair of
clothes to go into town. Hed have to stay a night there because the walk back to town
was basically a day long. When he returned to the mine, hed have everything he
wanted. Once he had his clothes together, he grabbed his bottle, stuck it into his pocket
and started on his way. It took about an hour before he saw the mine that was the last of
the main mining area. As he walked by the other miners and their claims, he felt he
should brag about what he had found. He was so close to doing just that, when he
realized that they might hurt him for the gold. Steal it. Lawrence wasnt the strongest

guy in the world. Not to say he wasnt strong, but some of the other miners in this area
had been here longer to work up bigger muscles. He didnt want to lose his fortune, so
he just rushed by dozens of miners enjoying their mornings before they again went back
to working.
He got to town just as it was getting dark and decided to stay at the closest hotel
to him. He walked in and placed a small nugget on the counter. A man came out from
the back and smiled when he saw the small piece of gold. He walked to the opposite
side of the counter and picked it and looked at it closely. He then turned to lawrence,
How long will you be staying? Lawrence smiled back, feeling really special for a
moment, Just one night. Im in town to pick up some supplies. The man took the
nugget into the back room and came out with a small silver key. Room three. Have a
good night, sir. he added. Lawrence walked to the side and up some narrow stairs. He
could hear someone snoring in room one as he walked by and then came to room
three. He put the key in and opened the door. He lit the lantern and sat on the bed.
Tomorrows the day! he exclaimed to himself.
He slept well that night, but not like that one night when he had first found his
camp. The bed creaked a little and seemed to moan out words every time he moved.
He kept dreaming of his claim up the canyon. He thought that he had done something
wrong, but he couldnt figure out what. It was as if he had encroached too far onto
forbidden land.
Lawrence got up early that morning to get what he could and head home.
The first place he visited was the stable. It was full of horses and other pack
animals brought down from England and up from South Africa. He didnt need anything
to ride, just something to carry his stuff, which was just tools and a few personal
belongings. He ended up buying two oxen and a new wagon that was bigger and could
hold everything he owned, plus more. He then walked down the street to a mining
supplies store where he got a new shovel and some buckets. It was like his last
Christmas before he left. He thought back to when his parents had given him a book on
the process of Hardrock mining. Thats one of the smaller things that pushed him to
leave to Bechuanaland. When he had gotten the animals, and the tools, he went to the
general store. It has all types of foods that he hadnt seen in months. They were all
imported from England, so he bought everything he could remember eating, plus more.
He then put everything in his new wagon, with the tools, and started his trek back home.
He was planning on making his favorite meal that night, pigeon and white sauce.
Once he reached the trail with his new stuff, he ran into a problem. The trail was
wide enough for a mule and a wagon, but not two oxen and a wagon. He unhooked one
of the oxen and moved it directly in front of the other one. Once the two animals were
lined up in the middle of the wagon, lawrence continued going up the incline, past the
other miners on the sides. They would look down and see him and be jealous. Or at
least, thats what he thought theyd do. He was constantly trying to prove himself to
everyone, but his parents more importantly. He made it up the trail pretty effortlessly and

arrive at his camp. Once he had gotten his gear situated and in their places and put the
oxen to bed by some trees, he walked to the entrance of his tunnel. He froze. Laying on
the floor was one the local savages. He seemed to be asleep. lawrence walked slowly
back to his older wagon and grabbed small pistol. he walked back over to the tunnel.
Get up and stay there! He tried to yell, with a quivering voice. The man on the floor
quickly awoke and jumped to his feet. He started speaking. How dare you trespass on
sacred dirt. Loowe, Tintibane, Matsieng, and Thobega dislike the destruction of their
caves. Leave outsider, or be killed. the man said in another language he couldnt
understand. Lawrence watched the man, and fired it up at the other mans feet. The
man grabbed a machete that had been stood up against the wall and bolted towards
Lawrence. He quickly turned and ran off into some bushes and trees. Lawrence was left
standing by his mine, freaked out. He didnt have a great appetite at that moment, so he
didnt make what he wanted to. He decided to just go to sleep.
It had been a month since he had arrived in this location, and his mine had
produced a lot of gold. He was starting to make money on his gold and was able to buy
stuff. He wanted to expand his claim, but didnt know where to start. He started cutting
down some of the trees nearby for expansion on his mines. Since he had cut down the
trees, he had seen people in the distance that seemed to be watching him. The only
answer Lawrence could come to was that where he was, was some special piece of
land to the tribe. He had gone too far up the canyon and too far into their land.
Lawrence opened his eyes and looked across the small canyon. He saw a group
of men from the tribe watching him from the bushes. They werent very well hidden, he
thought to himself. He then walked over to the tunnel and saw that someone had been
there recently. He walked to the back where he saw that the hole into the other room
had been opened wider. It had been broken wider and cleaned up so that it was almost
like his mine was part of the caves. He walked in, with his lantern of course, and saw
paintings all around him. They continued down the long corridors as well. It showed
people running with spears, and rhinos, and all sorts of animals. He continued to walk
down the tunnels until he found the exit to the caves. It was an overlook into the
flatlands that were on the other side of the hills. he could see the river flowing out of the
canyon and onto the flat plains. He could see the animals in the distance. For a
moment, he felt entirely at peace. Too bad it was about to change.
He walked back to his camp, and found three locals going through his stuff. He
tried to run to his gun quickly, but was stopped by two of them. The third came up to him
holding a gold nugget. You take the precious rock from our fatherland? he said in an
unknown language. Im sorry if I did something wrong. I was minding my own business.
I swear. Lawrence hoped that they could understand him. The two men holding him
smiled at each other and pulled him over under a tree. The third man picked up his
spear that he had laid down in the grass and walked toward lawrence. No! Please! I
didnt mean anything by entering your area. I just wanted to be rich! his pleads meant
nothing to the other man. The other man stopped and lifted his spear. He placed it in the

soft dirt next to him. He then lifted his arm over his head to his back and pulled out a
short sword or knife. He walked closer to Lawrence and held the knife to his throat. In
the name of Modimo, may he not punish us for the white mans insolence. The man
then swung his knife down towards Lawrence. Lawrence, who was in a shock like state,
ducked quickly. He rolled off to the side and hit one of the other men in the leg. That
man reached down and pulled Lawrence up off the ground. The man with the knife
walked towards him and stood in front of him. You cant run, white man. he said.
Lawrence had a realisation. Youre all Tswana people. Youll be punished for this! he
yelled at them. They didnt seem to know what he said either, and ignored him. The two
men on the sides held Lawrences arms and held him still. The man with the knife
brought the blade up and swung it down, cutting off Lawrences head. The men took his
body into his tunnel and covered it with the dirt and rocks. It was a sacrifice to the god to
not hurt them. The three men took his oxen and supplies back to their village with them.
Lawrence shouldnt have been so greedy, and he shouldnt have neared the village
limits.