A month ago, I heard about a gold rush in California.  Now I’m knee deep in the water, panning for gold!  My clothes are wet, my fingers are numb, but I keep on looking.

Wait, is that–yes, it is gold!  I found gold!  Finally, after hours in the water, I’ve found gold!

Sadly, this is just a small piece, and I’ll need a lot more to make even as much money that the stores do that I buy my supplies from, but I can find more.

I’m called a forty-niner.  That’s because it’s 1849, and I’m looking for gold.  To do this you need good sturdy clothes, pickaxes, small pans, and a lot of other supplies to eat and live on.

Later:

Most of the towns have become ghost towns.  Levi jeans are very popular now because they are tough.  I’ve decided I’ll build a store and become a shopkeeper because I don’t think I’ll get rich this way anymore.

Ten years later:

I’m now one of the richer folk around here.  I guess my plan to run a store really paid off!