Fool's Gold

Author: Matt Penfold
Word Count: 355
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Fool's Gold

For Twisted Tales Star Twister 50
Prompt = “Precious metal”
Word Count = 349

TTST50

Fool's Gold belongs to the following groups:

Masterpieces: Literary Workshop and Twisted Tales

Bill was surprised to see the glint of reflected sunlight amongst the coarse gravel on the roadside, he stepped back and bent down to pick up what looked like a chunk of gold. It turned out to be a crudely formed figurine, shaped like an oversized gummi bear, about two and a half inches in height and the thickness of his thumb, it was partially hollow but still fairly heavy.

Was this his lucky day or what? It must have weighed at least four ounces, and for someone on a tight budget who had recently started an advanced jewellery making course at night school this was a godsend. He realised that this much gold was worth nearly four thousand dollars and must belong to someone but it sure seemed like a case of finders keepers.

As he walked home he visualised the wonderful bracelet he could fashion for his girlfriend, and there would still be plenty left over for a few rings as well. He dreamed of asking Cindy to marry him one day when he had a few dollars to match her savings. Engagement and wedding rings would be a small start in the right direction.

It didn’t take long to chop the precious metal into suitable sized pieces for his purpose, he began hammering them into elongated strips which he would then weave into an exquisite gold braid.

As he worked late into the night he was only vaguely aware of the radio that had been on all evening, however the pips before the news each hour reminded him of the time. At eleven PM he caught the news headlines:

“Police have recovered most of the Inca artefacts stolen from the Yale Peabody Museum last night. A two and a half inch high gold figurine has still not been found, it has been described as looking a bit like a big gummi bear. The four thousand year old relics are the oldest of this type ever found in the Americas. The museum is offering a one hundred thousand dollar reward for the safe return of the figurine….........”

Mel Brackstone

Oh you’re good :)))
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks Mel, I always appreciate your visits and comments :-)
sandraellen

Matt…..a wonderful story, if I was at all cynical, I would ‘tut tut’ Bill for not handing that icon in…....But i ain’t, so I won’t ….....nice to read you again :)
sandra x
Matt Penfold replied

LOL, not cynical hu? Thanks S&ra glad you like it :-)
Jeannette Sheehy

haha – “looking a bit like a big gummi bear”. That tickled me for some reason. Great twist! :)
Matt Penfold replied

Actually Jeannette you would have appreciated the original version where it looked like a big “jelly baby” but a google search told me that Americans don’t have jelly babies so I changed it to something that everybody knows. Thanks :-)
janniev

I’ll bet he kicked himself good and hard! Lovely read, it had me wondering.
Matt Penfold replied

I reckon he would have felt sick LOL. Thanks so much Jan, I’m glad you enjoyed it :-)
ArcadiaTempest

Good to see you back in a good twisting groove again. I was so cringing for him when your mean twist blurted out of the radio at him! Great read indeed…. ;)) X
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks KarenSue, yes the twist is a bit mean but then again he didn’t cut his wife’s head off…......... ;-)
Solar Zorra

So I see chopping up ancient gummy bears is okay. ;) Really, great story, so glad to see you back. :)SZ
Matt Penfold replied

Hey, I never said it was OK ;~~) Thanks for that Solar, it’s good to be back among friends :~~)
erika15

aw hahahaha! Made me laugh! Nice twist Matt! :DD
Matt Penfold replied

Hi Erika, good to know it gave you a laugh, thanks so much :-)
Alison Pearce

Excellent twist!! You had me totally engrossed throughout with your vivid descriptive prose!
Matt Penfold replied

Thank you so much Alison, I’m really glad you liked it, “engrossed” is always good :-)
filfil

Aw man! poor guy! But at least you got lucky with this amazingly written story. Terrific job! Abosolutely terrific!
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks filfil, I’m pleased that you enjoyed this so much, thanks for taking the time to read it, much appreciated :-)
Jeannette Sheehy

gummi bear, jelly baby…and being a Brit living in the USA, I appreciate the qualities of both! ;)
Matt Penfold replied

I figured you were worldly when it came to gummi bears and jelly babies Jeannette ;-)
Danielle Knight

lol, a little life lesson for Bill perhaps. Great story Matt, good to see you back and in fine form.
Matt Penfold replied

Yep, lesson: don’t listen to the radio ;-)

Thanks so much Danielle, greatly appreciated. It is good to be back.
Zolton

Doh! In the words of Homer Simpson. Ha ha… nice use of gummy bear. Great story, Matt.
Matt Penfold replied

Ha, that’s the first time Homer’s been quoted in a comment on my work Zolton, he’s a great literary critic so I’m chuffed. Thanks :-)
anya

I was engrossed in the tale Matt. Well done.
Matt Penfold replied

Thank you so much Anya, your comment is very much appreciated :-)
Jim Hall

Have you been reading O’ Henry? Excellent story with a great twist. The kicker for me was his acknowledgment that he should have checked to see if someone had lost it. The irony of his actions was truly entertaining, but isn’t that why we’re here? JH
Matt Penfold replied

Hi Jim, you know I’m a big fan of O’Henry. Yep if Bill had done the right thing he’d be sitting pretty now. Thanks for the excellent comment, I really do appreciate your words :-)
Chanel2

Good twist, well done!
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks so much Chanel2. I do appreciate you taking the time to read it :-)
Bob Fox

Well conceived and expressed!
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks heaps for that Bob, your kind comment is very much appreciated :-)
Zolton

Congrats from the host’s of Twisted Tales!
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks a million Zolton, and to everyone who entered and voted, this prompt from Jeannette really inspired so much wonderful writing :-)
Solar Zorra

Congratulations Mat!! Although you should be ashamed of yourself killing off innocent ancient gummy bears! ;) SZ
Matt Penfold replied

Hey Solar, thank you so much for that, by the way, did I mention that it was a cheeky female gummy bear? ;-)
filfil

Hip hip hooray! Wonderful job, Matt! That was a well-deserved win!
Matt Penfold replied

Thanks filfil, I do appreciate it, it was great to have so many fine entries this time :-)
Barbara Cliff

Tho reading with disaproval of the naughty lad, I laughing, as usual at the twisted tail ending. Reads like a fable.
lolowe

Lol, oh my goodness! Ah that is such a bad twist of fate. You had me all the way. Really nice work