HAUNT DAWGZ STORIES

WORTH MORE THAN GOLD

Frank walked down the street to the room he was renting at the local hotel, and set the tablet on the nightstand. Although he had no idea even what a battery was, the device still read 100%. He woke up the next morning and walked to the creek where he hoped to find that elusive gold strike. He settled into the creek and had his tablet in a bag sitting on the creekside. After working for fourteen hours and not having any luck, Frank decided to call it a day and went to the hotel to grab dinner, then some rest. While he sat at his table waiting for his meal, he glanced at the tablet for a quick moment. A video started, showing him at the hotel restaurant and the server bringing him his steak dinner and bowl of soup. When the server placed the steak on the table, she accidentally tilted the soup bowl and spilled piping hot soup all over Frank's lap. He placed the tablet down but it was too late. The server approached, placed the steak down and the next second Frank was screaming at the feel of hot soup on his lap. "Ow! Arghh!" Frank quickly stood up. The heat and related pain subsided and the manager came over and apologized. "You're meal is on the house, Frank."

"On the house doesn't take away the pain, mister!"

Frank finished his meal, got up and knocked his chair over on his way out, leaving it for someone else to pick up. He muttered to himself, "How in tarnation did that window thing show me in advance what would happen?"

The next day Frank was digging in the dirt along the creek with his pick axe. He continuously raised the axe overhead, swinging it downward to cut into the earth. "Come on...there's gotta be gold in this here ground!" He paused momentarily to take a few sips from his canteen. He glanced at the tablet to make sure it was still sitting on the adjacent rock he placed it on. He continued swinging his axe. "Come on!"

Sweat dripped off Frank's nose as he continued cutting through muddy earth with his axe, swinging with full strength. "Ouch!" Frank dropped the axe and shook his hands. "What kind of hard object did I hit!" The impact caused a vibration in the handle, which caused a pain in Frank's wrists. His excitement overshadowed his discomfort, and he smiled. "This has got to be the big nugget! This is it!" Frank wiped sweat from his eyes then grabbed the tablet. The video was already playing and he looked at it just in time to see him grab only a big rock from the creekside. "Darn it!" he shouted with disappointment. He didn't even bother to remove the rock. "He threw the tablet on the ground causing the screen to crack diagonally in a jagged pattern making it difficult to see what's on the screen. He picked it up and yelled, "Great, now this magic box is broken. It only shows bad things to come anyway!" He looked to his right and shouted, "Hey Atkins, here! This is all yours, and the bad luck that comes with it!" Frank tossed the tablet to Clyde with it landing near his feet in the mud.

Clyde picked up the tablet and suddenly a video started. He thought, "What the heck is this?" Through the broken glass he could barely make out what was happening. He saw himself digging around the shore of the creek, and striking something hard with his pick axe. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, as seeing videos or movies was completely foreign to him, and way ahead of their time. He removed his hat and scratched his head. "Hmm?" The video showed him kneeling down and using his hands to dislodge a very large hardened piece of mud and rock, about the size of a cowboy hat. Continuing in the video was the image of Clyde starting to break off the mud from the rock as well as turning over the whole thing. His face lit up with joy as there, shining through a thin layer of mud was the unmistakable shine of gold. By the time he picked off the adjoining rocks and dirt he was holding a gold nugget about one foot across by ten inches wide. The video also showed the find was about thirty feet to his right, at the base of a cottonwood tree, about three feet into his claim zone.

Although excited, Clyde casually put the tablet down as to not bring any attention to himself as his heart pounded with anticipation. Silently he said to himself, "Don't know what this darn thing is, but it can't hurt to look where I saw that image on this strange magic window thing!" He walked to the far edge of his claimed area, which included the area of the cottonwood tree with only three feet to spare before he would be in Frank's claim zone. He dug along the creek bed with his pick axe, and eventually hit something solid. It was exactly what he saw on the tablet. A large gold nugget is what he

uncovered. Now, rightfully discovering gold on his claimed area, he let out a scream of joy, "Yee haw! Eureka!"

That positive attention was heard by frustrated gold seeking neighbor Frank, who stormed over to Clyde and started yelling. "That thing has only brought me bad luck, and I didn't care if you had it because I wanted you to take the bad luck streak away from me! That thar nugget is half mine as you wouldn't have found it without me giving you my magic future telling window thing!"

"Now just a blazin' minute here Frank! You lawfully discarded it and threw it away. You abandoned it! I picked it up on my property so it was mine when it told me where the gold was, not yours." Frank's eyes became squinty with rage and he reached for his gun and drew. A shot rang out and the creek now had a dead man laying face down in it. Other gold miner's who witnessed the shooting came over to the body to see if they could help but it was too late. Frank Kennedy was dead. Although having the disadvantage of reacting to Frank drawing first, Clyde, was lightning fast and was not about to have a miserable person like Frank take him out.

"We saw him draw first, Clyde," said several of the other miners. Clyde gave his statement to the Sheriff who arrived on scene with the coroner. The Sheriff talked to the witnesses and walked over to Clyde and stated, "Clyde, you're good. You were just defending yourself."
"Thank's Sheriff. I wish this didn't have to happen, but you know Frank's temper."
The sheriff smiled. "Yup, me of all people know very well about his temper and poor judgement. You probably did this town a favor."
Clyde went straight to the Assay Office and cashed in his gold nugget to the tune of 118,000 dollars, which was a lot of money in 1849.

Frank was buried on boot hill, and Frank's few family members came over to Clyde who was in attendance at the funeral. Frank's brother, Jacob, approached Clyde and said, "I heard what happened, and I'm glad you didn't get hurt or killed. My brother was a miserable, angry man, and unfortunately it did him in. The two shook hands and Jacob smiled and nodded before walking away. After four steps he stopped and turned towards Clyde again, saying, "Oh, and Clyde, thank you for paying for all the funeral expenses. You didn't have to do that. My family appreciates it as we don't have a lot." "You and your family are welcome, Jacob."

A warm feeling came over Clyde, and he smiled. Although he had to take the life of one their own, he was still able to help the surviving family. Clyde turned, untied his mule he had tied to a Joshua Tree, and slowly walked away.