The last stubborn layers of snow melted away from the warm spring sun and carried away the black ash that had frozen on the river over the long winter. The mines in town never close, not even during the winter. There are two mines in town and they are the main industry in town so the people have learned to live with the black snow and smog. All the townspeople, old and young alike, have learned to appreciate the spring season. When the annual melt occurs there is a skip in everyone’s step and the town starts buzzing with life.
The children no longer wear their heavy winter coats, which they might have grown out of sooner if the spring was delayed. They all run to school skipping over the newly freed grass, squishing out the water from the thawing soil as they run. The air still carries a biting cold in it especially when the gusts pick up but the warm spring sun quickly challenges it and the cold succumbs.
Eddie Holten works on the north mine. He is a supervisor for the expansion team. Spring is a busy time for his department because once the soil has thawed it is the prime time to expand the mine’s cavities before the cold returns. With the blueprint under his left arm and a tin lunch box in his right he heads off to work.
The Holten family is famous in town. Their fame began with Mr. Holten’s great-great grandfather, Gregory Holten, who saved the lives of hundreds of miners by alerting them to an impending collapse many years ago. Although there was no sign of any fissures in the rock, he closed the mine and risked his job for shutting down production without cause. Although no one believed him he was convinced and, only a mere few hours after Gregory had closed its gate the mine collapsed.
Reporter’s hounded him for years after the event. Everyone was curious as to how he knew the mine would collapse without any evidence. He would never admit the truth. He always brushed away questions by claiming it was simple luck but, before his death he told his eldest son what really happened all those years ago. The story he told read like a fairytale. He told his son that he was warned by a mine elf.
Gregory awoke at 6 a.m. and headed down to the mine where he was inspecting a new mine cavity. The initial readings suggested that there would be at least fifty thousand cubic meters of coal inside. However, when the hole was blasted everyone was disappointed to find that the readings were very off. It was Gregory’s job to find out why the readings were so off.
While making his way through the tight passageways, miles and miles under the earth he kept feeling the sensation of being watched. He recalled to his sun that the hair on his arm’s were standing on edge and that he constantly was looking around himself and calling out to see if anyone was there.
It wasn’t until he had reached the end of the blast site that he finally encountered the elf. He had walked up to the dead end and started collecting blast samples and packing them up in a bag when he heard footsteps to his right. He thought that a miner had followed him down but when he turned around he was stunned to find a short creature with pale green skin standing confidently before him.
Gregory couldn’t utter a single word. He was shocked and scared all at once. The creature seemed to understand his predicament and put up its hand with the palms facing out and spoke reassuringly.
“I mean you no harm,” the creature said. “I only came to tell you that what you seek has been taken long ago.”
“Wh-wha-what?” Gregory muttered a reply.
“Please Gregory,” it spoke, “I mean you no harm but there isn’t much time so you must listen to me very carefully.”
“What are you?” Gregory demanded, finally gathering some courage to speak.
“My name is Illac. My family lives in these parts. We have our home in the caves a few miles from here. This is why we cannot let you keep digging here. It’s too close to our home.” He spoke with such genuine kindness and concern that his convictions were neither harsh nor callous to Gregory.
Illac told Gregory that the elves would close the mine to keep people from destroying their home. Gregory, who had grown up in a black winter, and who understood the destruction the mines had brought to the human environment was completely sympathetic to Illac’s plea. Illac told Gregory that the elves meant no harm to anyone but that they had to close the mine for their own survival. Illac was sent to give a warning to a miner and to give instruction to the humans as to where they could make a new mine.
Gregory would later do everything that Illac told him, which saved countless lives, but he would only tell his closest relatives what he saw that day. Gregory’s descendants, who worked in the mines, have passed on this story and the lessons this encounter has taught. Most have taken positions as surveyors or supervisors to ensure they can monitor the mines production and to ensure that mine extensions do not encroach on the fabled elf’s territory. They no longer look to the canary for signs of danger but look out for the green elf.
[su_panel background=”#f2f2f2″ color=”#000000″ border=”0px none #ffffff” shadow=”0px 0px 0px #ffffff”]by Tihana Skoric
