The Gold Mine

Alex Millford lived in a tent outside Braxton, Ecuador where he lived with six-hundred miners. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he ate a ham and cheese sandwich, orange juice, and a brownie. It was delicious to him since it was always nice to eat after a day of mining. Alex was one of the hundreds of gold miners who lived in tents outside Braxton making a meager living mining gold. They had hoped the money they made would be enough to support them and their families for a month. It was a dirty, difficult, and dangerous job, but it was what they could do. Making money was vital. So was supporting their families. 

Alex woke up and stretched his body as he woke up to another day of work. It was a hot, Friday morning and the sun spared nothing on the ground. Everything was hot; the ground, the tents, and the people. It was excruciatingly hot. Alex felt the scorching heat on his body and put on his miner outfit, a grey overall and worn shoes. He liked working but thought it was difficult to get up and get dirty and trudge through the day. However, in the end, making money was worth it, so to Alex it didn’t seem too bad. 

The mining elevator was made of granite and was large enough to fit twenty-five people. It was quite large and went down at a rapid pace. When it went underground, the air suddenly smelled earthy like clay and the air became very hot. Alex went in and under the ground and stepped out the elevator to find himself among large rocks and miles upon miles of stone. He was in the mine now.

Alex was instructed by the mining leader to obtain two grams of gold ore for the daily quota. Alex nodded in understanding and proceeded to mine and mine and mine until there was not much rock left. He successfully obtained two grams of gold ore and went back up the mine elevator to the ground at the surface of the Earth. Alex loved mining because it was so difficult, yet at the same time rewarding. Mining was physically very demanding, but earning money made it worthwhile. 

Alex went back inside his tent where he slept for the night for another day of mining. The half-moon hung in the sky like a giant light and lit up everything at night. Alex slept soundly for another day of gold searching.