Diamond Rush

There were sounds of horses galloping and pulling the heavily laden carts. Voices could be heard everywhere and talking mostly of diamond strike. It was at Klipdrift. Diamond strike became the talk of the town.

I walked through the dusty road and passed by a few cafes where men sat around round tables; smoking, drinking, talking and mostly discussing where the new diamond fields could be found. The town was bustling with people from all over the world, each one looking for big fortunes at Klipdrift - diamonds that could turn a man rich overnight if luck was on his side.  Much prices had to be paid for it for it needed sacrifices of the souls or courage. Only the ones with brave hearts could overcome the challenges towards getting rich.

Jamie and Banda were on the beach picking up the biggest diamonds they could find and hastily put them inside a big bag. The footsteps of guards and dogs barking were in a distant. Then, there was a thick fog and everything was blanketed inside it. To walk through it was a struggle for not knowing where it led to; may be to one of the land mines.

I heard a growling sound right behind me and in an instant I felt something razor sharp cutting through my left leg. I shouted in pain and the only thing I heard before passing out was "Kruger-Brent."

Oh my God! Where am I now? Wasn't  a moment ago, I was picking mother diamond on the beach and having a stiff competition with Jamie and Banda?  While admiring it, like in a flash of lightning everything dimmed out.  

As if I had just got out safely from the fog, I looked around and right here on my right hand was "Sidney Sheldon's Master of The Game." This was the "diamond" I was holding on the last past hours. I was so engrossed reading this novel until I fell asleep and dreamed of the diamond rush at Klipdrift, South Africa way back in 1883.

Sidney Sheldon is one of my favorite authors, thus purchasing his books is a-must for me.

Diamond Rush

There were sounds of horses galloping and pulling the heavily laden carts. Voices could be heard everywhere and talking mostly of diamond strike. It was at Klipdrift. Diamond strike became the talk of the town.

I walked through the dusty road and passed by a few cafes where men sat around round tables; smoking, drinking, talking and mostly discussing where the new diamond fields could be found. The town was bustling with people from over the world all looking for big fortunes at Klipdrift. Diamonds that could turn a man rich overnight if luck was on his side.  Much prices had to be paid for it for it needed sacrifices of the souls or courage for the ones with the brave hearts could overcome the many challenges towards getting rich.

Jamie and Banda were on the beach picking up the biggest diamonds they could find and hastily put them inside a big bag. The footsteps of guards and dogs barking were in a distant. Then, there was a thick fog and everything was blanketed inside it. To walk through it was a struggle and not knowing where it led to; may be to one of the land mines.

I heard a growling sound right behind me and in an instant I felt something razor sharp cutting through my left leg. I shouted in pain and the only thing I heard before passing out was "Kruger-Brent."

Oh my God! Where am I now? Wasn't  a moment ago, I was picking mother diamond on the beach and having a stiff competition with Jamie and Banda and while admiring it, like in a flash everything dimmed out?  

As if I had just got out safely from the fog, I looked around and right there on my right hand was "Sidney Sheldon's Master of The Game." This was the "diamond" I was holding on the last past hours. I was so engrossed reading this novel until I fell asleep and dreamed of the diamond rush at Klipdrift, South Africa way back in 1883.

Sidney Sheldon is one of my favorite authors and purchasing his books is a-must for me.

Now And Then

It had been quite awhile I didn't go to the beach. As I'm now in a short break, this afternoon after lunch, I headed there and breathed the sea air once again. It's still monsoon season here when we get plenty of rain and windy weather so the sea is quite furious, rolling in waves. I enjoyed watching the waves coming and going, bringing along the sands and back again releasing them on the shore. The weather wasn't really fine; for awhile, it was drizzling. I wasn't worried about it as I was safe under the shed. It was really amazing being able to appreciate the breath-taking beauty and gazing far at the horizon which to me is mystifying knowing not what lies at the other side.  It's just my fantasy.

My mind flashed back to what I used to do when I was a little girl.  My late father was working at the water pump station quite near to this beach. But the station no longer exists as there is now a bigger and well-equipped station further from the old site. The place where it used to be has been made into a big golf course, acres of it.

My siblings and I used to play on the beach. Like any other kids, we had lots of fun and every day seemed a day filled with joy and freedom to soak up the sun or taking a dip in the sea. While our parents would be near by watching us. Sometimes, my father put out the fishing net and when pulling it in a couple of hours later, we could enjoy our meal of roasted fresh fish. Such was a great time, running around with no worries on mind. It was only during school holidays we could have all the fun. When school re-opened, we had to be back home in the village to be near to school.

Childhood memories, once in awhile they come back and thinking of them makes me smile.

 The three photos here were taken by me and they
appeared in my old posts. This one was taken in the evening.
This is part of the beach where there are rocks.

Sunset at Tanjong Batu Beach, Bintulu.

The LNG tanker at Tanjong Kidurong deep sea port.
Today, the sea isn't as calm as this.

Watching the ripples on the shore, I just couldn't help admiring its beauty. The sounds of the waves seemed to be the music in an orchestra complementing each other and forming such a beautiful sound, one of its kind. All around, casuarina trees were dancing with the breeze, gently swaying and producing another unique sound, as if the breeze was whispering romantic words among the little leaves.

My mind was flying far away, across that blue sea which later crossed over to oceans. I had a beautiful thought and I just wanted to be lost in it, longing it to last forever. It was just a beautiful thought of how great to be able to fly, spreading my wings and gliding over the surface of the sea and oceans leaving behind my worries, my pain, my disappointment ..... which I wished making no return.

I was brought back to reality by the sounds of flipping pages of the novel I brought along. Yes, apart from wanting to see the beach again, I had wanted to have a tranquil moment enjoying the novel I had just bought at the mall. This morning, I bought 4 more books for my collections.

 They are :
 1. the Japanese thriller phenomenon, The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino.
 2. Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie.
 3. The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley.
 4. The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim.

I was reading the Japanese thriller up to the 40th page when two university students approached me for a short interview on what should be taken on forest conservation at the Similajau National Park here. No,  there wasn't any appointment whatsoever. The two of them were carrying out their research and just randomly interviewed anyone they met at the beach. As a nature lover, I was glad I played my part  by voicing out my opinions and suggestions on how best nature conservation could be carried out for the sake of future generations.

Back to books, I must say they are like the air that I breath; I need them everyday to keep me sane!  It might sound like an exaggeration if I say, I can't go through another day without books. And today, I bought 4 at once because I could buy at a discount price! Apart from that, I'm a member of the Popular book store and that gives me the advantage of buying books at 10% discount.The girl at the counter said it's the end-spring promotion. Well, may be that's the term used to clear the stock. I was thinking we don't have Spring but the usual tropical weather;  rain and shine through out the year though now in the monsoon, it rains almost everyday.

Today, I renewed my membership to enjoy another year of buying books at a discount rate.

Balqis

Jan26'12

**All images taken by yours truly.