First Quarter: Evolving Talent Winner
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
by Julie Long
Leslie tightened her rain soaked hood, shoved her spade into the muddy dirt, and pulled out a dripping ball of mud to slap onto the sifting screen. Her hands, red and chapped, spread the mud flat on the tray. She was glad of the cold, glad of the rain. Fewer tourists ventured out to the Crater of Diamonds State Park during this kind of weather. That meant fewer people to compete with at the water pavilion.
Her fingers stung as she lowered the sifter into the icy water. Agitating it back and forth, she watched the water wash away the mud to reveal the rocks beneath. She swirled the round screen in a rotating motion so that heavier stones would migrate to the center as they cleaned. Leslie heard a shuffle, then another bucket slammed down next to her.
“Whew-ee. It ain’t gettin’ any lighter in this rain.”
Leslie looked up at a weathered man in waders and nodded hello. The rain dripped off the rim of his Stetson onto his rain jacket as he set up his gear at the water table.
He stopped and looked her over. “Any luck today?”
“No, not yet.” She ducked her head back down to her tray, shaking it back and forth in the water.
The man grunted as he laid out his screens. “How long you been here?”
Leslie tried to keep annoyance from showing on her face. “About a week and a half.” She shifted away from him and shook the mud harder, wanting to finish her batch quickly so she could head back to the diamond field.
The man didn’t respond. Leslie assumed he got the message that she didn’t want to talk. She couldn’t afford to chatter and make friends. The wind snapped cold rain into their faces as they worked. When the man lowered his sifter into the water, Leslie saw that he wore a thick pair of rubber gloves for protection.
He noticed her look. “Gloves make it easier in the cold.” Leslie averted her gaze. “But you know, I really don’t mind days like this.” He continued, using three different sized screens to sort the muddy rocks. “It’s kinda peaceful, just the sound of the rain and the rattle of the rocks in sifter.”
“Yea, it was almost peaceful,” Leslie muttered under her breath. She didn’t care if he heard her or not. Only two days left…maybe three if she didn’t eat dinner tonight. The admission to the park didn’t seem like much, but seven dollars was a meal for her. Pulling her tray out of the water, she looked at remaining rocks. Nothing. She dumped them out then tried another heap of mud.
“Well. Look what we got here.” The man reached into his sifter and pulled out a small wet rock, turning it in his fingers. Controlling a burst of envy, Leslie looked over at him. The man placed the rock in his palm and held it out to her. “A fine piece of quartz crystal, eh?”
Leslie smiled, relieved. “Nice.” The park usually only produced two diamonds a day. She was glad that he hadn’t found one.
“Not exactly what I was looking for, but after fifteen years mining here in Arkansas, you learn to appreciate what you can.”
Leslie frowned and turned back to her tray, searching through the washed rocks with her fingers. Nothing again.
“Don’t get me wrong, I do love them diamonds. That’s why we’re here right?”
Leslie didn’t answer.
“Would you believe I’ve found over fifty diamonds at this park?” he said.
Leslie dumped out another useless tray of rocks. She leaned against the water table and looked at him. “Really? Where did you find them?”
The man brightened. “Why, no place in particular. Most of them, I found right on the trails, when I wasn’t really even looking. I’d just be walkin’ around, then I’d just see a certain glint in the sun and there it’d be. There’s no better feeling than to find a prize like that when you’re not expecting it.” He raised his head to the clouds. “Looks like the sun’s finally trying to say hello.”
Leslie followed his gaze and lowered her rain hood. She scooped another pile of mud.
“Most people don’t want to face the rain out here unless they have to. So, what’s your story?”
“Story? I don’t have a story. Just here to find diamonds,” said Leslie.
“That’s what I said to myself at first. It’s all about the diamonds. But let me tell you, after years of digging and sifting and digging some more, you begin to learn a little something about yourself.”
“I don’t have years, and I really don’t want to discover anything more about myself.” She gave her sifter a fierce shake almost spilling the rocks into the water.
“Easy there. Like this.” The older man swiveled his sifter and the water sluiced over the rocks, washing the mud away.
“Thanks, but I’m done anyway,” Leslie said. She picked up her gear and bucket and walked back to the diamond field. But she remembered what he had said. Keeping her eyes to the ground, she searched the rocks on the topmost piles of the field.
Nothing sparkled.
The sun decided to show itself full force and, little by little, the regular tourists began to show. The fields of the mine sounded with excited conversation and laughter as people filled in. A woman with her young son took up place a few feet from her. She ignored them. The ground was still too wet to dry sift so she scooped promising piles of mud and rocks into her bucket. But another trip to the water pavilion brought the same disappointing results.
As Leslie walked back to her spot, she noticed a metallic rock lying right on top of the boy’s mud bucket. She knew instantly what it was. Most people didn’t know what a raw diamond really looked like, so she suspected that they had overlooked it. The two of them were working a few feet from her, facing another direction. Leslie stood there, staring down at the bucket. It would be so easy to take that rock. They’d never know. They didn’t need it as much as her. It was a big diamond. She’d have enough money to pay rent for a while. Maybe even enough to sue for custody of her daughter.
The boy held out a rock to his mother. “How about this one, Mom?” The woman looked tired and worn. “No. Keep looking.” The boy’s smile faded and he turned to search some more.
“Excuse me,” Leslie called. They both looked up. “I couldn’t help noticing this rock on the top of your bucket.” The boy scrambled over to her.
“This one?” the boy held it up excitedly. “Is it a diamond?”
“I don’t know, but it looks good. You should go to the Diamond Discovery Area and check it out.”
“Really?” he asked.
Leslie smiled. “I would go.”
“Whippee!” The boy jumped up. Grasping the rock tight in his fist, he ran toward the main area.
“Thank you,” his mother said. She dropped her tools and followed after him.
Leslie sighed and went back to work. She struggled to haul another heavy bucket of mud to the washing area. As she sifted through her third scoop, she heard the clanging of a bell. Everyone stopped and looked toward the Discovery Area. Excited chatter traveled through the fields. A diamond had been found.
Leslie kept working until the loudspeakers announced that the park was closing for the night. Discouraged, she loaded up her gear and headed out. On the trail back, she noticed the old man with the Stetson walking in front of her. He stopped. Then he bent over to look at something on the ground. He turned his head and saw Leslie behind him. For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then he straightened up, tipped his hat to her, and continued walking.
As Leslie approached the spot, a glint of the red setting sun hit something on the path where the man had paused. It was a triangular shaped rock that shimmered in the light. Reaching down with a trembling hand, Leslie picked it up and rubbed her thumb over the surface. Dirt flaked off the shiny gem.
She looked back up at the man, but he was far up the trail. “Sir! Wait!” She ran to catch him.
“I think this belongs to you.” She held out the stone.
“What do you have there? A diamond? Well, it seems to me you did a little more searching than you expected today.”
Leslie stood frozen, wondering what to say, when she heard a little voice calling.
“Papaw! We’re leaving, come on!” It was the young boy from before.
The man reached out and closed her fingers around the stone with a smile. He gave her a wink then walked away to his grandson.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Julianne Long is a wife and mother of three young children living in Flower Mound, TX. She enjoys reading and writing Fantasy. Avidly writing for the past five years, she is hoping her big break is just around the corner.
JUDGE’S COMMENTS:
What I particularly liked about this story is the realistic sense of PLACE that it conveyed. I had never heard of Crater of Diamonds State Park, but I had no doubt that this was a real place (it is) and that everything depicted here is absolutely genuine. Here's a very good example of someone who has learned how to "write about what you know" while incorporating "what you know" into fiction. I did not get the sense that the story itself was yet another thinly veiled autobiography-my feeling from this story was that the author was creating a fictional character in a real place. The sensory details are excellent. There's also a good story line; you feel as if Leslie, and those around her, are real people in a real world. Leslie's decision doesn't smack you in the face as a moral (too many stories do). If this were part of a larger story, I'd want to read more about Leslie and her life and world. (Heck, next time I visit my sister in Arkansas, maybe we can go mining for diamonds...).