I held it at arm's length. The stench permeated the air around me. (I had just gotten a word of the day calendar, that's why I knew what permeated meant.) Pinching my nose, I placed it on the table.
Whatever it was, Andy had gone through a lot of trouble to get it. He saw it floating down the river, and he dove in after it. Too bad that two minutes later, after he caught up to it, a barge full of household rubbish tipped over and spilled its... cargo all over him. It reeked of consumerism.
I pulled the gas mask over my face. This wasn't going to be fun. It took a good ten minutes to get the first layer of grime off of it with a cloth. Whatever the hell it is, it had best be worth it, I thought to myself.
I was halfway through the third layer when I saw it. A shiny surface, in the midst of the murk and the sludge. It caught my eye almost immediately. It was radiant. Glamourous. Beautiful.
Golden.
He found a gold bar floating in the water.
He used it to buy cocaine.
I held it at arm's length.