Funny how things turn out. Here I am. An Englishman born in Germany ending up in South Australia. Sheep was my game. Fine merino. I had an eye; could pick fine fleece from inferior. My sheep went missing. Looking for them changed my direction. Found copper and started a mine. Needed miners so I went to England to find ’em in Cornwall. Sold my mine shares instead and wrote a book about South Australian mines. Made a fortune. Didn’t have to work but ended up South Australia’s Premier. Seat of Light. Ironic. Can’t have light without copper. Copper country.
In response to Charli’s 99 word prompt where she asks:
January 4, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about Copper Country. It can be any place, fictional, historical, or on another planet. Go where the copper leads.
Respond by January 9, 2018, to be included in the compilation (published January 10). Rules are here. All writers are welcome!
Historical fiction – Francis Stacker 1818 -1877. He apparently died from a skin disorder – which makes me wonder whether copper, so influential in his life, also caused his death. It is only supposition on my part but he could have suffered copper toxicity syndrome.
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
Excellent response, Irene. Copper country! Charli certainly knows how to make a think, doesn’t she?
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She sure does Robbie. Thanks for dropping by and reading.
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Very entertaining story, Irene, and pretty clever that it’s historical fiction.
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glad you enjoyed it Sharon. It was interesting for me also in the stuff I found out in the process of meeting him myself.
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clever and well written, love it … I’d like to meet the bloke and I know it’s a story!
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Thank you Kate – the bloke existed but you still can’t meet him as he is long gone now. Sounds like he had an interesting life but you’re right – my story is a story.
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who was he?
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Premier of South Australia for two short periods and the discoverer of one of the largest copper seams in the world around Kapunga in South Australia. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of him – I didn’t know a thing about him until yesterday. One of the things I love about prompts – they take you to places on occasion that I would normally never go. This started as research on Uluru.
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well I never, you could become a research journalist, well done Irene 🙂
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My vocational guidance test done at 16 for entry to nursing said I should have been a journalist. Perhaps I missed my calling.
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well that’s two of us that agree 🙂 not missed it, you’ve still got time ….
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😄
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So much history packed into 99 Words. I enjoyed the lesson. Well done, Irene.
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Thanks Ann. 99 words is not a lot to work with but it makes you concise with words.
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So much ‘history’ packed into a 99 Words lesson. Well done, Irene.
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Thanks Ann. Glad you enjoyed it.
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I like this character, Irene. Want to sit across the table and hear stories, drink coffee.
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I’m glad to hear that Alexander. He does sound like a bit of a character.
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What they all said. You sure got a history wrung out of a few words. Good voice and pacing for the job.
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Thanks D. For some reason I saw it as an interview for a newspaper with him telling his own story.
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You encapsulated such an eventful life in just 99 words! Bravo. By the way, talking about South Australia’s PM, I was just reading Bill Bryson’s Down Under yesterday, and at the very beginning, he wrote about how he could never remember who Australia’s current prime Minister was, and knew no one who could remember it either 🙂
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Thanks. The state premiers I think that is very true of — I’d never heard of this chap until Saturday when I wrote it. The same could well be true for our Prime ministers – my husband woke me the other morning and asked who our prime minister was. I know I was still half asleep but I couldn’t think of who it was although I could tell him our opposition leader. I think we have had only a few memorable men fill the post. I enjoyed Bill Bryson’s Down Under immensely and was very impressed with his level of research (which he does for every book he writes). 😄
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A lifetime covered in 99. Excellent.
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Thank you. glad you enjoyed it.
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Well done, Irene. The truncated story-telling style works really well and sounds like meeting the man at a pub and hearing his story in 99 over a pint. Interesting historical character, too.
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Thanks Charli. I’d never heard of him but I think he would have been a bit of a character. Most Aussie bushmen are and I loved that he just chanced upon it when looking for lost sheep.
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I imagine Aussie bushmen are like Western cowboys. Characters from that free and wild lifestyle.
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I think that is probably true.
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It’s funny how the decisions we make – and sometimes the ones made for us – influence the course of our lives.
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Absolutely but it is also how we view the outcomes of those decisions that will determine the next path we take.
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Nice telling of an interesting piece of history in a flash, Irene.
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Thanks Norah.
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