Track Three of Eight

The Gold Mine

Same Night

This dream begins with the "Genesis of Track 8".

Looking into the First WashOut, the Dreamer walked to the gnarled roots of the embedded tree.

The Dreamer began digging under the roots in the dust and gravel. He unearthed a nugget of gold that was the size of a medicine ball. Scattered around this nugget were three other nuggets the size of grapefruit, and many smaller ones in the sand. All were easily removed by the Dreamer except for one that seemed to be a long, massive vein, that reached for some distance under the ground to the north.

Apparently, this was the western boundary of the placer mine and here is where the miners had stopped their mining. It seemed laughably ironic that here, where they stopped their search, was the richest deposits of all.

The Dreamer gazed upon the riches for a time, and then he became elated in his find, and immersed in his greed. He knew that he had found a great treasure and became panicked to protect it. The Dreamer decided that he must hide it and come back to retrieve it later. He covered the treasure just as he had found it and covered the booty again in dirt. Then he placed dried brush over the mud to hide any evidence of its disturbance and resolved to come back at a later time to retrieve it. He knew that it would be safe being that it had lain there for a long time, undisturbed, until he discovered it on this tasked-journey.

He went back to the ferry and came back to Tacoma.

The Dreamer's plan was, to at the very least, get the big nugget out and to register a mining claim with the government for a multi-acre partial with this discovery the center. He just had to own that nugget. He would become the richest man known.

The Dreamer went to the government office to register a claim. Upon his designation of the location and parameters of the site, the workers laughed audibly at the Dreamer. They believed it was fool-hearty and idiotic to register and work such a claim as it had been raped in every fashion before his feeble attempt. They felt he was a fool.

Following the receipt of the mining deeds the Dreamer returned to the gnarled roots.

(To return to the treasure, the Dreamer went through the entire scenario again beginning at the "Genesis of Track 8").

The Dreamer came this time to the treasure with his ally. They waited until nightfall and then they removed the large nugget and placed it in a wooden box. They covered the smaller nuggets as the Dreamer had before, and returned to the lodge.

The next morning they carried the box to the ferry and returned to Tacoma. They brought the nugget to an assayer drilled a pinhole through the center of the nugget and removed a minuscule core. The hole was no bigger that of an insulin needle. The nugget was found to be solid, with no other minerals or rocks inside. It was pure treasure.

The Dreamer and his ally knew that if they brought this much gold out into the market at one time, gold prices would plummet and that they would be left with nothing.

The Dreamer and his ally returned again to the site of the gold.

(To return to the treasure, the Dreamer went through the entire scenario again beginning at the "Genesis of Track 8").

This time, the Dreamer and his ally retrieved the three grapefruit sized nuggets and some of the smaller ones. There was a backhoe operator at this time attempting to remove the large vein. (The Dreamer and his ally were not disturbed by this action, so the Dreamer surmises that they took it for granted that the backhoe operator works for them in the mining operation). It was quite dark and he was working under extremely bright, outside lights.

Agents of the treasury department arrived at this time and attempted to take away the booty. They believed that they could do so because of its location in national recreation area, but they were stopped by the mining deed. The Dreamer and his ally knew that the deed wouldn't fend off the government for long, so they resigned themselves to leave now and not hassle with the agents, because they would win in the long-run, and the Dreamer and the ally left. The Dreamer did pick up a few nuggets near the feet of one of the agent and nonchalantly placed them in his pocket, as if he was picking up a penny in a parking lot - just to piss them off.

The Dreamer and the ally went back to Tacoma.

The Dreamer woke himself up.

Back to current time and place.