A story from the 1960’s by Daniel Carter from Big Bear City Elementary School.

I looked down at my hands, stained black, as I climbed out of the dark hole that had been my life for almost the past 10 years. A small train of coal trains slowly followed behind me carrying one of the many hundred loads of coal I had seen in my career. I began the short walk to my small house, slightly less than a mile away. I looked around at my dull surroundings and, not for the first time, wondered if it wasn’t such a good idea coming to West Virginia.

When I reached my house, I redressed, then, splashing my face with a bowl of cold water, tried to wash away the dry monotony that comes along with mining coal. I didn’t bother to shower. There’s never enough time until I have to dive back into the bowels of the Earth. I left my bedroom, opened the door, and stepped outside.

I smelled the brisk December air, and then began walking at a leisurely pace towards town, leaving a small cloud of dirt behind me. There hadn’t been much snow that year, and when there was, it usually melted within a day or two. I remembered the cold and decided to start saving enough for a decent jacket.

I reached town about twenty minutes later, scurrying to a bar to kill the cold seeping into my bones. I sat down at the counter, wishing that I had enough money for a drink, and then gazed around looking for another coal worker or someone to start conversation with. The bar for the most part was empty, apart from me, and an elderly man at the end of the counter. I waited there for a while before deciding that it probably wasn’t worth my time to wait and see if someone showed up. When I left the bar, I noticed that most of town seemed fairly quiet too, apart from a loud radio playing something about Cuba and missiles in the distance. They must all be at the evening church session I thought. I heard my stomach growl, and started to walk toward one of the few stores that sold unhealthy, but cheap food to some of the less fortunate. A car rushed past blowing my hair back, revealing some of the vicious scars on my forehead from numerous mining accidents.