The Fever..

[45bushy]

He fell upon a covered track
while treking through the scrub,
had no hurry to get back
his mates again had left for the pub.

Off the main track it couldn't be seen
bracken and branch cover where it had been
curious conspiricies play at his mind,
at the end of the track what would he find?

Following tracks
in powdered white dust
guided by moon light
opal his lust,
siluetted white cones
that fill in old holes
loom in the darkness
like following trolls.
Watching his steps
he follows the track.
Cloud covers moon,
all turned pitch black.
He now stands still
not game to move,
a brand new track
without a groove.

Through the darkness
he sees a light,
straight ahead
just off to the right.

Forging ahead as cloud leaves the moon,
does Eldorado await or a murderous goon?
What was he thinking?
Why is he here?
With danger all 'round
he’s now showing fear.
Up from the ground
rose a dull light,
muffled sounds meant
they were working at night!

Layed on his belly
he looked down the hole
listened to jibber
like a spy or mole.
Excited giggles
ooos and ahhhs,
talk of one rock
that'll buy ten cars.

Plotting and scheming
to staking the claim
thinks of the fortune
that alone he will gain.
The hole is illegal
they won't have a leg,
once in his name
they'll have to beg.
If they want to dig more
they'll have to pay me!"
At last he grins,
'Opals for free..'

Clangs on the ladder,
they were climbing top side,
so he sprung to his feet
to run and hide
but to find a squat to hide behind
in the dark of night,
is hard to find.

Things seldom are free they come at a cost
he knew claim jumpers are quite often lost.

As is the way when urgency calls
panic sets in and common sense stalls.

Pounding heart
sets beat for the race,
in full flight expecting a chase.
Where is the track ?
Where is the moon ?
Got to be quick
they'll be up top soon….

Out’a the hole climbed one, two and three
then slapping of backs and hugging to see
They covered the hole and brushed round the rim
just as the moonlight waned to dim.
A bottle of Rum shared between three
with a spring in their steps
one makes a decree,
“Don’t forget Johnno,
but we won’t tell him yet
we’ll peg out the claim
now our apatites’ whet.
He’ll love the surprise.
He’s treated us well,
showed us how to survive
in this hot scrubby hell.!”

“Leave enough grog to rub on ourselves,” says number two
“Make sure we smell like we’ve had quite a few.”
With that the three tramped back to camp
Crawled into their beds an' turned off the lamp..

At full speed he ran from the hole
With leap ’n bounds of spritely foal
the adrenaline rush worked faster than eyes
deceiving him well with optical lies.
Shadows lost as the moon went down
so he reckoned for the ridge headed for town.
Thoughts of greed to cut out his crew
blinded the dangers of the scrub that he knew,
each step he took was Russian Rulette
not with a bullet but a hole as the bet..

As if in a script that punishes bad
a merciless end to a devious lad,
a hole half full’a water
a nocturnal surprise.

Praying to the last star seen by his eyes.

The three went to town to register the claim
proud to make Johnno’s the fourth written name
Returning to camp to break the good news
with a dream of the four on a wild ocean cruise.

They started the search the following dawn
after three weeks they gathered to morn
Old Johnno was gone last seen going scrub
raised drinks all‘round at the miners pub:

“Here’s to Johnno..
A man you could trust
salt of the earth
who’d share his last crust”

Once in his lifetime, he erred his good ways
but karma struck swiftly and shortened his days…

Note:
How many of us
when faced with the chance
to become millionairs
would take a backward glance?
Most of us know right from wrong
and choose the right path
to stroll along.
Happy with our lot,
love family'n mates
loyal'n trustworthy
how ever fate shakes.

The fever can strike
at the strongest of wills
I've seen it go down,
it gave me the chills.
Mate against mate
a million at stake
or of one that was loaded,
ripped off one that just scrapes.

See,
the boys were prospecting
without paying fees
wanted to surprise Johnno
to make four lives a breeze.
Did Johnno gel to the voices'n feel betrayed,
sending him into a revenge tyrade?

Or
was his mind made up
when he come across the track,
a deviot inside
willing to have a crack?

We'll never know.
No one will
but one thing's for sure
the fever can kill...

[fourandsixpants]

Thanks again bushy....another beauty!

[fourandsixpants]

Loved your piece bushy.....thought I'd share following as you you may appreciate it:

The English Plural

According to....

George Carlin  1937 -2008

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,

But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,

        Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

          You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,

Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,

Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that,

and three would be those,

Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,

And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,

But though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,

But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it -English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;

Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England.

We takeEnglish  for granted,

but if we explore its paradoxes,

We find that quicksand can work slowly,

boxing rings are square,

And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write,

but fingers don't fing,

Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them,

What do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speakingEnglish

Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship...

We have noses that run and feet that smell.

We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.

And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,

While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language

In which your house can burn up as it burns down,

In which you fill in a form by filling it out,

And in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing..........

If Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop.????

[45bushy]

wotapissa,, how goods that hahahaha thanks heaps..

[bright.ton42]

Lol,  crazy isn't it.  I'm so glad English is my language and I didn't have to learn it.  There ain't any 

rules.