08-08-08.......New Beginnings.....

The great divide, the toil has almost ended. Seven days have gone by. She was in the brink of giving in. Giving up. It was too tiring. She grew weary by the day. The sun that shone mercilessly above her did not relent as she worked the land. She almost passed out. She heaved, sighed, and looked up as if her pleading eyes could pull a cloud over the bright sun.

She thought of it no more. She wanted no more. It began with a purpose, with a reason. Now it was hopeless and of no use. Resigning to her humble makeshift shaft was the best she could do for herself and her little ones.

“Gold they said. We would find gold. How could I be so stupid as to believe them? All they wanted was cheap labor,“ she soliloquized.

She sneered and spit in the ground and went on digging. They had travelled far and wide in search for wealth. She was easily lured by the dangling dollars that were cast in her face. They told her she would be so rich that she wouldn’t have to work again. They said it would only take a few hours. But seven days were not a few hours. They were days, many days. Her hunger new no bounds. She had been able to ignore herself and feed the little ones. They did not need to suffer like that. She resolved to make it better for them.

The sun was finally going down in the horizon. She was glad now. She even managed a smile. She knew she was close. But she could only hope. They were told to retire to their homes. But she stayed on. She went on digging. So they left her behind on her own and in the dark. It seemed that nothing could stop her now. The little ones were in bed. She heard them playing no more. She dug on as she hummed an old hymn to herself.

Her arms ached but she did not rest. She worked through the night until dawn. She was down almost eight feet. Beads of sweat dripped from her face. She wiped her brow with mud stained hands. She thought of her little ones. They were alone in the shelter. In the makeshift house. But soon she would be with them. It was almost day break. She dug with more urgency, like a new strength had overcome her.

CLANK! Finally! She dug around the object. It was a stone. A big stone. She took a hoe and broke the stone. There was nothing in one half. She disintegrated the other half and a gleam in her eyes could not express the joy in her heart. She had struck gold.

The people joined her in the hole, the dug around for more. That day, the eighth day, excitement was in the air. For the lady that had worked all night had paved the way for new beginnings.