eldrscrolls
04-22-2009, 06:37 PM
Hey, this is just a short little project. Tell me what you think!
Tenebrous Depths
The mine was pitch-black aside from the man made light that was held by the workers. Not even the gleaming light of the sun could be seen this deep down in the earth. The walls, which had knife-like sculptures of rock and coal, were covered in water, dripping down further and further into what seemed nothingness. Not even the sound of stone falling and colliding into the ground could be heard from above. The only thing you could hear was the clinking of the worker’s pickaxes against the rough dark walls. The men didn’t speak, groan, nor make any form of sound at all. Instead they swung their axes in unison in an eerily robotic manner. After getting a sufficient amount of minerals into their bag, they turned, stepped onto the lift, and rode to the top, not saying a word, and dumped it into the collection for the next shipment.
The mine was owned by a man named Miles Sherman, a large businessman that owned a series of expansive corporations that seemed to dominate the stock market. Many people disagreed with the fact that one man could own so many things, being that he couldn’t spectate everything that was going on. However, this did not stop him from acquiring more and more money and land every day. Daily protests occurred outside of his offices and work sites, protests with the violence and absurdity of P.E.T.A. or any other preposterous organization. He seemed to be the most hated man in America, but his existence was essential, or else the stock market would crash and America’s economic position would drop drastically.
The workers weren’t being paid much, especially considering the unforgiving conditions in which they worked in every day. Diseases such as Pneumoconiosis and silicosis were common. Regardless of the fatal conditions, the men still showed up everyday to work their shifts from 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. with only three fifteen minute breaks. It was almost as if the men were slaved into working, and were being paid only to show that they weren’t in fact slaves, or some other monstrous scheme.
The men continued to swing, slide back, and swing the pick axes at the wall, and a large drill started to dig deeper and deeper into the ground to get to new, even more tenebrous depths. The men could no longer hear the drill; they had spent so much time listening to it that only the stopping of the drill would catch their attention. As the men continued to dig, one of the men suddenly opened his mouth and spoke.
“What the hell was that?”
All the other men seemed to be startled, for the hypnotic silence was broken by the piercing sound of the man’s voice. They all quit working.
“I swear I just saw something.”
“Just shut the hell up and get back to work, you’re making this job ****tier than it already is.”
Many of the men seemed irritated by the man who decided to break the silence.
“And just what makes you the leader down here? Last time I checked we are both getting the same ****ty pay, and do the same ****ty work.”
“I’m not claiming to be the leader; I’m speaking what everyone else is thinking. Now it would be nice if you’d just shut your mouth.”
The man seemed to give in, it was obvious no one believed him, or for that matter, even cared about what he had to say. The silence started up again, at least for a short amount of time. In less than ten minutes someone else claimed to have seen something, and many others chimed in and also claimed to have seen some animal moving around. The men started to become not so much scared, but preoccupied or consumed by the thought of mortal danger. But what were the chances that something was even wrong? Anyone would hallucinate after doing the same thing over and over again in such a monotonous manner. But would multiple people have the exact same hallucination? Could something actually be crawling around underneath their feet, planning an attack?
All the men continued to work with the exact same thought in their mind. Would they be attacked by some vicious animal? Is it even from earth? Are they about to discover a new species? Are they ever going to see their family again? They all wanted to leave, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t just go up and tell the boss they all saw some unidentifiable animal crawling around and that they thought it was dangerous. They were stuck down there, down there with the creature, or whatever it was…
The drill continued going deeper and deeper into the earth. Sparks were flying off of the rock and shooting through the air.
“Oh ****!”
The men stopped and looked up again, however the drill kept digging.
“I swear I just saw it again! I know I wasn’t just imagining it this time!” The man had to yell to over power the sound of the drill. “I’m getting the hell out of here; I don’t care what any of you do.”
The man started to step onto the lift to ride it to the top. He slammed his sweaty palm onto the button to ride it to the top, but nothing happened.
“Give me a ****ing break; you’ve got to be kidding me!”
He continued to slam the button harder and harder, as if he was trying to break it, but it still would not engage.
“Someone radio up to the base and see if someone can repair the lift, cause’ I want out of here now.”
The drill suddenly changed sound, as if it was done drilling. It sounded like the drill had reached a hollow spot, the sparks quit flying off, and the only sound was the drill spinning with great force. The men turned off the drill and moved over to it to inspect what had happened. Suddenly creatures crawled out of the hole produced by the drill and started to attack the men.
“**** someone radio the base already!”
They swung there pickaxes, but this time with greater energy. The pickaxes penetrated the creatures’ dark scales and caused blood to be flung about. The men’s lanterns were being knocked over by the excessive activity, and the light was reduced greatly. They were flailing their axes practically blindly only hoping to hit something not human. They managed to kill a few of the creatures, but they kept crawling out of the whole
“Holy ****! Can someone get a hold of the base and inform them of THIS ****ING SITUATION?!”
They got a connection to the base and frantically told the supervisor who was on duty the current situation. The supervisor immediately made a call to Miles and was given strict instructions and was to do exactly as told….
(Time passes by)
“What the hell was that!?”
A loud explosion filled the air of the mine. Rock tumbled down on the men. The entrance was now sealed off; they had no way to escape. The creatures continued to crawl out of the hole and devoured the men by biting into their flesh with their sharp teeth and pulling their ribs apart. They chewed on the muscles of their victims as they cried out in a pain. The bodies of these men will forever be hidden, and their story will never be released….
- “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell”
Tenebrous Depths
The mine was pitch-black aside from the man made light that was held by the workers. Not even the gleaming light of the sun could be seen this deep down in the earth. The walls, which had knife-like sculptures of rock and coal, were covered in water, dripping down further and further into what seemed nothingness. Not even the sound of stone falling and colliding into the ground could be heard from above. The only thing you could hear was the clinking of the worker’s pickaxes against the rough dark walls. The men didn’t speak, groan, nor make any form of sound at all. Instead they swung their axes in unison in an eerily robotic manner. After getting a sufficient amount of minerals into their bag, they turned, stepped onto the lift, and rode to the top, not saying a word, and dumped it into the collection for the next shipment.
The mine was owned by a man named Miles Sherman, a large businessman that owned a series of expansive corporations that seemed to dominate the stock market. Many people disagreed with the fact that one man could own so many things, being that he couldn’t spectate everything that was going on. However, this did not stop him from acquiring more and more money and land every day. Daily protests occurred outside of his offices and work sites, protests with the violence and absurdity of P.E.T.A. or any other preposterous organization. He seemed to be the most hated man in America, but his existence was essential, or else the stock market would crash and America’s economic position would drop drastically.
The workers weren’t being paid much, especially considering the unforgiving conditions in which they worked in every day. Diseases such as Pneumoconiosis and silicosis were common. Regardless of the fatal conditions, the men still showed up everyday to work their shifts from 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. with only three fifteen minute breaks. It was almost as if the men were slaved into working, and were being paid only to show that they weren’t in fact slaves, or some other monstrous scheme.
The men continued to swing, slide back, and swing the pick axes at the wall, and a large drill started to dig deeper and deeper into the ground to get to new, even more tenebrous depths. The men could no longer hear the drill; they had spent so much time listening to it that only the stopping of the drill would catch their attention. As the men continued to dig, one of the men suddenly opened his mouth and spoke.
“What the hell was that?”
All the other men seemed to be startled, for the hypnotic silence was broken by the piercing sound of the man’s voice. They all quit working.
“I swear I just saw something.”
“Just shut the hell up and get back to work, you’re making this job ****tier than it already is.”
Many of the men seemed irritated by the man who decided to break the silence.
“And just what makes you the leader down here? Last time I checked we are both getting the same ****ty pay, and do the same ****ty work.”
“I’m not claiming to be the leader; I’m speaking what everyone else is thinking. Now it would be nice if you’d just shut your mouth.”
The man seemed to give in, it was obvious no one believed him, or for that matter, even cared about what he had to say. The silence started up again, at least for a short amount of time. In less than ten minutes someone else claimed to have seen something, and many others chimed in and also claimed to have seen some animal moving around. The men started to become not so much scared, but preoccupied or consumed by the thought of mortal danger. But what were the chances that something was even wrong? Anyone would hallucinate after doing the same thing over and over again in such a monotonous manner. But would multiple people have the exact same hallucination? Could something actually be crawling around underneath their feet, planning an attack?
All the men continued to work with the exact same thought in their mind. Would they be attacked by some vicious animal? Is it even from earth? Are they about to discover a new species? Are they ever going to see their family again? They all wanted to leave, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t just go up and tell the boss they all saw some unidentifiable animal crawling around and that they thought it was dangerous. They were stuck down there, down there with the creature, or whatever it was…
The drill continued going deeper and deeper into the earth. Sparks were flying off of the rock and shooting through the air.
“Oh ****!”
The men stopped and looked up again, however the drill kept digging.
“I swear I just saw it again! I know I wasn’t just imagining it this time!” The man had to yell to over power the sound of the drill. “I’m getting the hell out of here; I don’t care what any of you do.”
The man started to step onto the lift to ride it to the top. He slammed his sweaty palm onto the button to ride it to the top, but nothing happened.
“Give me a ****ing break; you’ve got to be kidding me!”
He continued to slam the button harder and harder, as if he was trying to break it, but it still would not engage.
“Someone radio up to the base and see if someone can repair the lift, cause’ I want out of here now.”
The drill suddenly changed sound, as if it was done drilling. It sounded like the drill had reached a hollow spot, the sparks quit flying off, and the only sound was the drill spinning with great force. The men turned off the drill and moved over to it to inspect what had happened. Suddenly creatures crawled out of the hole produced by the drill and started to attack the men.
“**** someone radio the base already!”
They swung there pickaxes, but this time with greater energy. The pickaxes penetrated the creatures’ dark scales and caused blood to be flung about. The men’s lanterns were being knocked over by the excessive activity, and the light was reduced greatly. They were flailing their axes practically blindly only hoping to hit something not human. They managed to kill a few of the creatures, but they kept crawling out of the whole
“Holy ****! Can someone get a hold of the base and inform them of THIS ****ING SITUATION?!”
They got a connection to the base and frantically told the supervisor who was on duty the current situation. The supervisor immediately made a call to Miles and was given strict instructions and was to do exactly as told….
(Time passes by)
“What the hell was that!?”
A loud explosion filled the air of the mine. Rock tumbled down on the men. The entrance was now sealed off; they had no way to escape. The creatures continued to crawl out of the hole and devoured the men by biting into their flesh with their sharp teeth and pulling their ribs apart. They chewed on the muscles of their victims as they cried out in a pain. The bodies of these men will forever be hidden, and their story will never be released….
- “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell”