99 Word Prompt: The ’49ers

(Flash fiction piece prompted by Carrot Ranch. The theme of ’49ers is topical because the American football team in San Francisco with the same name just lost the NFC title game to their Los Angeles rivals, so I tied that into the historical ’49ers who came to California during the gold rush. Link below.)

https://carrotranch.com/2022/01/31/january-31-story-challenge-in-99-words/

The prospectors sat down at their campsite after a long day of swinging pick-axes and shoveling dirt.

“Another satisfying day of tearing up the earth and getting rich,” one miner said.

“And civilizing the wild west,” a gold panner added.

“We’re doing god’s work,” another prospector proclaimed, then he ran up a hilltop. “And we’ve driven out the undesirables, so we’re king of the mountain!” Suddenly a bighorn sheep head butted him and he rolled down the hill.

The other prospectors laughed heartily. “How do you like that,” one of them said, “a ’49er taken out by a ram.”

©2022 Robert Kirkendall