The Miner

 There used to live a miner in a far away cottage. He would go out to carry on his daily deed, mining in a bottomless pit during daylight only to return home just in time for an enjoyable supper. He grew bored of his job; for it only consisted in smashing stones and reducing them to tiny pieces so that the breeze could later sweep them away. But alas, he had found in his misery an enjoyable solitude, as well as an agreeable routine. For though he had longed for the exciting life, his confinement rendered him simple at heart and devout to his simple task.

Arguably, he would spend sleepless nights pondering another life, a more exciting life. But fate wouldn't tolerate it and condemned him to the life of a miner.

One day, as the miner set off to the mines, he encountered a strange man en route. He wore a white hood which covered his face, and carried a cane which was an indicator of his age. The miner was baffled by the man �" in all his years he had taken the same path to work and never had he encountered such an enigmatic stranger �" but chose to approach him.

‘Where are you heading’, said the wise man in a low-pitched tone.

The miner kindly replied, ‘To work in the mines, old geezer!’

‘Beware of the monster’, warned the old sage as he slowly disappeared behind a bush.

The miner continued his journey, reflecting on the stranger’s warning. What monster? He thought to himself. He had been working at the same mining field for twenty-four years and not once had he encountered a strange creature.

From here on it was all déjà-vu: a repetition of the same tasks, just like every day. The miner felt his soul tiring out of boredom, but he wouldn't allow it to distract him from his tedious work.

Just then, as the worker wielded his ax and prepared to cut a stone in half, a low voice resonated: 

’Beware the monster…’

Startled by the deafening echo, the miner quickly turned and readied his ax to protect himself from imminent danger. He was shocked to see the old man standing right in front of him.

The miner was speechless. He had not fully understood what had happened. The sage could foresee the troubles on the worker’s face. So he told him ‘If anything troubles you, then ask my son.’

In a desperate attempt to lay his doubts to bed, the miner inquired ‘What is this monster you speak of? And why should I beware it?’

The stranger drew a smile on his face, as if he were anticipating the question. He explained that the monster hid in the mine field, lying deep among the dark carpets of coal, waiting for a lost soul to feast upon. ‘And what would a starved monster gain in devouring me?’ argued the miner. ‘I am nothing more than an average working man who strives only to complete the vicious cycle in which life has encapsulated me’.

But the stranger wouldn't reply. Instead, he advised the miner to change his ways and liberate himself from his routine or risk perishing at the hands of the monster. ‘Only when you truly attribute a just value to your life shall you be liberated, or else you shall forever be haunted by this merciless creature’, he concluded. And he disappeared into the horizon once more, only this time, never to return again.

The miner pinched himself. He thought of himself in a state of trance, a sort of surrealism that had subdued him for a split second. This absurd talk of monsters and liberation was weighing on him.

He decided to focus on his work and forget the strange encounter with the old man. He sharpened his ax, held it high above his head, but just as he was about to swing it and slice a piece of coal in half, the mine field erupted in screams and terror, and a shadow-like figure emerged from its confines.

The miner was star struck; the prophecy of the old man had come true! There in front of him stood a dark beast from the abyss, breathing down on him.

The miner attempted to run, but to no avail. His feet were paralyzed and left for dead. The monster roared so fiercely that the skies were sliced wide open. Thunderstorms ravaged the plains and the damning fires of hell broke loose.

As for the miner, he was caught in the midst of the dark storm with nowhere to go.

The monster moved quickly to swipe him off his feet and drag him into the underworld, vanishing in the process and restoring the mine field to its former state.

Deep within the confines of the abyss, the miner screamed of terror, but he was blinded by a white light. Could it perhaps be the dawn of a new life that the old man spoke of? Was it the life he was intended to live?

But men often fall victims to their illusions and fail to act upon their chivalrous desires. The light cut through the miner like a thousand diamonds, reflecting every inch of his soul on a stone wall. It was as if he was looking down into a thousand mirrors; he had realized that throughout these years, he had duped himself into thinking he had worked, while in fact, he had sunken into an empty pit of despair where he found joy in the remains of life. He had lived marginally for the past years, and now that he faced his final judgment, he was standing on the boundary of life and death.

He had failed to change his ways; but humans in nature are vivid artists who desire nothing but to explore the vast world and bask in its wonders. A boring human like himself was resigned to self-confinement and could never evolve and live life to its fullest.

The monsters around him laughed as the angels of death plagued him with sad harmonies. He was sinking too deep, and as his mind had faltered under the guillotine of regret, so did his soul under the enchantment of the bemused spirits that mocked his achievements.

The miner vanished, and what remained was but a shadow of a once lively spirit who could not truly learn to live. He erred in the depth of a hellish land, forever forgotten, his thoughts consumed by the burning fires that wrapped around his waist and carried him to the shallow seas of what might have been an ideal life.