The Mine.

[Kitosdad]

My first day working in a coal-mine turned out to be my last.
I was feeling really nervous as I entered the cage that was to lower us into the bowels of the earth.
All cigarettes had been left in the changing rooms and I wasn't fancying eight hours without a smoke, but rules were rules, and that's the way it had to be.

The rest of my work-team seemed totally at ease as the cage plummeted downward.
I closed my eyes and took deep gulps of air.

We came to a sudden halt and the cage was opened to allow us all to troop out into the workplace.
It was like a city down there, with wide walkways and brilliant lighting. My nervousness melted and I felt at ease once again.

The men trooped off to their workplaces and I was left with the leader who had the responsibility of showing me around. The tour was interesting until he was suddenly called away.
"Just familiarise yourself with things, I'll be back in ten minutes or so, and don't touch anything," were his parting words.

I walked along the broad walkway at a slow pace expecting him back, but the further I walked the more interesting I found my new surroundings.
To the left was a narrow alleyway and I ambled down it.
This was far and away different from the broad walkways that I had just left.

Underfoot was crushed coal and debris of all kinds. Before me was a double door and I pushed my way through it. It was so dark in here that I had to switch on my headlamp.
I was surprised to see a small boy sitting behind the doors.
When I spoke to him he said that his job was to open the doors when the trucks came up loaded with coal.
He appeared to be very young.

This was indeed strange. There were conveyor belts for moving the coal, as far as I knew anyway, perhaps this was the only method that could be used in this confined area.
I had failed to see the small gauge rail tracks as I'd first entered.

Travelling on I heard the sounds of men talking in the distance.
This must be the working face, I thought.

From out of the gloom three men appeared and walked past me busily engaged in sharing a joke.
I stood and watched them disappear into the gloom.
As I was about to proceed further a large man came hurrying toward me.
"C'mon lad, we had better get a move on, the charge is set for five minutes," he boomed.

We turned ahd hurried beck the way I had came earlier.
We sheltered behind some wagons as the charge blew.
The sound was horrendous. Like being on a battlefield.
While we were crouched there he told me that he was the shot-firer and he was called Lofty, although his real name was Jack Carson.
He'd worked in this mine for twenty years.
As the dust cleared the other three men returned and joined Lofty.
"A'way then. let's see how much damage you've caused," they laughed.

I watched them walk away and decided I had better get back and find my leader before I found myself in trouble.

Pushing open the heavy doors I walked onto the broad walkway.
The lights here were blindingly bright. As I walked back toward the cage my leader came striding toward me.
"Why have you your headlamp switched on?," he laughingly enquired.
"Well, it was pretty dark in the other quarter, and I just forgot to turn it off again when I came back through the doors."
"What doors?," he asked.
"The doors to the other coal-face," I replied.

I could tell by his face that something was amiss, so I hurriedly added that I had been talking to Lofty the shot-firer.
"There's no Lofty down here son" he said softly.
"Yes, Jack Carson, I've just been talking to him down the narrow track."
"Which narrow track?," he enquired.
"C'mon, I'll show you," I replied and started walking ahead of him.

After five minutes or so it was obvious that there was no narrow track.
I turned to him in amazement.
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Jack Carson and three others were killed down here, forty years ago."

I went straight back to the cage and rang the bell to be hoisted to the surface again. When we arrived there I walked straight out of the colliery and never set foot in the place ever again.

Kitos.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.