Well, I bought this plant as a package of seeds from my local Dollar General for $4 or $5. I followed the instructions, including thinning the seedlings as they come up until only one remains. I transplanted one of them though to another pot, and that's the one I currently have. The other one died for some reason. So, yes this IS the one grown from seed. I started it well into, I think, February and it's just starting to flower. Yes, this is the one that has golden eggs when mature. I have mine in a pot that I left outdoors during the growing season. Now, the temperature is dropping in my area which is good for my peach tree, blackberries, blueberries and grape vine, but not my wonder eggplant. I brought it indoors and will soon find a place to keep it while the winter drinks and thrives on my hopeless misery(LOL) and then when the growing season returns, I will stick it back outside along with my palms and cycads.

Jimla, you may be right about the verticillium. It generally claims one or two of my eggplants each year... with some varieties I have grown in the past, it would stunt or kill nearly all of them (and my okra as well). I went through about a dozen varieties in the course of 5 years, looking for one that would succeed for me reliably. The purple variety "Diamond" (sold by Seed Savers Exchange) easily surpassed them all. It seems to be highly wilt resistant, and tolerates cool weather better than most. The elongated fruit are borne in ever-increasing numbers until just before frost.

I know a Gopher has burrowed into my yard i am curious if it is the culprit. I also see tiny little eggplants have also been eaten.

That's the standard (and excellent) advice about hand pollination. It ALWAYS works. It's a big effort if you have a large bed of cukes, but if you just have one plant, it's easy, and there is absolutely no reason to wait for an insect to decide to help out. Just do it. In that context, a pool cage might be nice, just to keep the bad insect pests off. That being said, the point about leaf burn near pools is a good one. It's well understood that chlorine levels in the air around especially indoor pools can be high, and many people get eye irritation from that. Can't be good for plants.