Iain Kelly

In the Catoca diamond mine in Angola, a worker named Enano do Nascimento uncovered a rare pink diamond. It was the largest pink diamond yet discovered. He was given a bonus of 1,000 Angolan kwanza (about $6). That night he celebrated with his family and his children ate well for a month.

The mining conglomerate auctioned the pink diamond, ‘The Angolan Star,’ at Sotheby’s in London.  Several collectors, governments and companies bid, but the CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company won.He paid $30 million.

He renamed the pink diamond ‘The American Star’. It sat in his office in Santa Clara for six months.

Then the diamond was shipped to China. At a factory, it was broken down and used to make 5000 limited edition mobile phones with ultra strong pink shaded screens. They sold at $10,000 each and sold out within one day.

Three months later all the limited edition mobile phones were recalled after reports of explosions while charging. An investigation revealed substandard cheap internal wiring was the cause. All the handsets were destroyed.

Flash fiction story run by Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. Write a story based on the prompt photo (above). Many thanks to Priceless Joy for hosting the challenge. Learn more HERE.

To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, click HERE.