Bryant 1

Tashira Bryant

Ms. Robinson

Creative Writing

27 January 2021

Silence

The men continued to work through the dark night, for hours upon hours, in the ill-lit

mine. It was loud yet quiet, and no one spoke, yet the vibrations of the chisels chipping away at

the minerals beneath the surface were louder this day than most. A new group of miners had

traveled a long way, in hopes to gain access to the sweet beauty, the Mineral mine. The workers

were divided into groups, some worked in the lower levels, while others worked just below the

surface. The black soot covered their faces and stained their clothes. Most men worked in

loose-fitting trousers, shirts, and their best mining boots. The equipment was shared, between the

newcomers and the old crew. Most days, the men went home feeling accomplished, however, on

this night, they felt a sense of competition

arising. The men attempted to work faster

than the newcomers, however, the others

lugged valuable pieces of minerals up to the

surface faster than the men had ever seen

before. They also developed a technique, to

reduce the time it would take to mine by

using new tools to speed up the process.

As the night progressed, the men

working in the lower levels started to have a

 Bryant 2

hard time communicating with the people above them. It was dark down there, only the light of

their headlamps guided them. The men at the top started to scream in an attempt to warn the

men, however, it was too late, only the men close to the surface could hear the warning. The men

looked up to see light coming straight down the center, a shriek was released into the cold

darkness. Silence.