The Coal Mine
Inspired by a trip to the coal mining museum.
One upon a deep, dark time, at the bottom of a coal mine, there was a little truck on wheels that was used to move coal around the mine. He travelled along a pair of rails, like a small train track. He was called Rhodri.
Rhodri had two good friends – a miner's head lamp called Catrin and a lump of coal called Boris.
Now the three had been friends for many years, but were becoming fed up with life down the mine. Rhodri was bored with running up and down the same old tracks day after day and his wheels were starting to ache. He longed for a change of scenery and a quiet life.
Catrin the lamp was fed up with being switched on and off by the miners. She wished she had a job where she got to decide for herself when to light up and when to stay dark.
As for Boris, he was scared of the dark. He just wanted to live somewhere it wasn't dark all the time. “I've spent millions years buried in the dark,” he said, “I deserve some light. And I don't want to be shoved on the fire like the other bits of coal!”
So one day, they decided it was time to leave the mine. Boris the coal jumped into Rhodri the truck, while Catrin the lamp held onto the front to act as look-out, and off they went.
They rolled along the track for a while.
“This is no good,” said Rhodri, “these are the tracks I always go along. They don't lead out of the mine.”
So they decided to go off the tracks and roll along the less used, more secret tunnels.
“This is more like it!” said Catrin, peering ahead into the gloom. But Rhodri was finding it hard going with his tired old wheels.
“I'm not sure this is a good idea,” said Boris the coal. “We've been gone a long time now, what if Catrin's batteries go flat?”
Just then, they rounded a bend in the tunnel and saw a glimmer of light at the end.
“Look!” shouted Catrin. “I think I can see daylight up ahead!”
Sure enough, as they got closer, the light grew brighter and brighter, until they came to an opening in the side of the hill that the coal mine was dug into.
“What a fantastic view!” said Boris, who had never been outside the mine before.
“But what do we do now we're out?” asked Rhodri. “We can't just sit here in the mouth of a cave forever.”
Suddenly, some loose stones underneath Rhodri's wheels slipped and gave way. The three friends started to roll down the hill. They went faster and faster.
“Help!” shouted Catrin, flashing her light on and off.
“Stop!” shouted Boris, who was finding this scarier than being in the dark.
“Whoa!” shouted Rhodri, whose wheels squealed and sparked on the rocks.
They went hurtling down until they reached the village, careered into Mrs Evans' garden, and crashed to a halt against her garden wall.
Mrs Evans came out to see what all the noise was.
“Bobol Bach!” she said (which probably means she was very surprised). “Where on earth have you come from?”
The friends did not reply (they never spoke when humans were around), but somehow managed to look friendly and helpful.
“Well,” said Mrs Evans, “I could certainly find something useful to do with you.”
She filled Rhodri up with soil and pretty flowers and put him at the edge of her garden overlooking the road. Rhodri was delighted – not only could he watch the world going by, but his poor wheels would never have to struggle along hard rails again.
She hung Catrin just outside the front door to be a night light.
“Make sure you only light up for me and my friends,” Mrs Evans told her.
Catrin was very pleased. Finally she could decide for herself when to turn on and off and still do a useful job.
As for Boris the coal, well, it so happened that Mrs Evans' husband used to be a coal miner but had died some time ago. Mrs Evans put Boris in a lovely position in the middle of her rockery.
“You can sit there and remind me of my husband, who loved working in the coal mine.”
So Boris was happy too, sitting there in the sunshine, and if ever he got scared of the dark at night time, he could always ask Catrin to switch on for a moment.
And so they all lived happily ever after.
