Diamond Mine

Out of boredom I think, we dug around one beggar patient’s brain and found a diamond. We thought we should check and, after a few useless skulls with nothing but brain, we found another. Naturally, we started rounding up the poor and the downtrodden under the pretense of vaccination, and we cracked open their crane-shells. It turned out roughly one in seventeen had a diamond inside, some as big as my fist.

Soon enough, we made enough money to cover up our indiscretion and the hospital began to flourish. In a dreary twist of fate, I grew weary of the city to the point of nausea, so I moved into the countryside. I set up a small office at the top of an ancient tower from way back when this place was some kingdom or other. I enjoyed the gorgeous view of the evergreen forest, especially at sunset and the occasional patient, especially at night.

Years later, led by an eerie intuition, I cracked open the skull of a village maiden and dug around in her soft wet pink brain. This time, it was a ruby. I raised it to the light and wondered. One in about five thousand, I assume. Perhaps even rarer.

Posted by: Paweł Kowaluk