Into the Dark Mine! UFLI Foundations Lesson 128

Fig Pig held up his pickaxe and grinned a big, brave grin. 'Today's the day!' he said. 'I'll dig deep, and dig deeper, and dig deeper still. I'll find the biggest, best lump of coal this old mine has ever seen!' He picked up his little lamp and marched right into the darkness, not one tiny bit scared. Not even a little. His chest was puffed up with excitement, and his heart was thumping like a drum. The dark mine swallowed Fig Pig up like a big black mouth, but on he marched, hopeful and bold. Today was going to be his lucky day.

Down, down, down he crept, and then the tunnel opened up wide. Old lamps glowed dimly above him. Rusty rails ran off into the shadows. Stone arches rose so high that Fig Pig had to tip his head all the way back to see the top. He stared up in amazement. 'Someone built all this,' he whispered. 'And then they left it behind.' His little voice sounded tiny in the stillness. The big, dim mine felt much, much too huge for one small pig. Fig Pig puffed his chest back out to make up for it, and on he marched, gripping his pickaxe tight.

Around the next bend sat a big wooden chest, and its lid was flung wide open. Fig Pig peered inside carefully. Gold coins, shiny red rubies, and right on top, one big, sharp sword. His piggy eyes went wide. 'I am not a thief,' Fig Pig said quickly, picking up the sword by its handle. 'I am just borrowing this from the chest, for safety!' He marched on quickly, before the chest could disagree with him. The sword felt heavy and strange in his little trotter. He did not feel very brave at all.

Then, right in front of him, Fig Pig saw the giant spider's web. The web stretched all the way from the dusty floor to the rocky ceiling, thick as rope and sticky as jam. Right in the middle of it sat a sleepy spider as big as a wheelbarrow. Its eyes were shut tight, and its eight long, hairy legs twitched and twitched in its sleep. Fig Pig held his breath and gripped his sword tight. One slow step. Two slow steps. Three steps, slowly and softly. The sleepy spider snored on. Four steps, five steps, six steps, and go, go, go!

The long, dark tunnel ended at the edge of a steep, rocky cliff. Far below him, hot lava bubbled and popped, orange and angry as anything. The only way across was a set of old, thin mine rails, no wider than a bit of rope. Fig Pig gulped, and then gulped again. 'I am not scared, not one bit,' he said in a tiny, shaky voice. But his little pink trotters said something very different. They wobbled and shook with every careful step out on the thin rails. Do not look down, do not look down, Fig Pig. He looked down anyway. He really, truly wished he had not.

At last, Fig Pig stumbled out of the dark mine into the open air. Daylight! Sweet, safe daylight! He blinked happily in the warm brightness of the sun. Then he spotted a sign posted by the dark mine entrance. In big, bright red letters it spelled out just one word. Beware! 'Beware?!' Fig Pig squealed loudly. He gripped his torch tightly, tucked the sword under one arm, and ran as quickly as his little pink trotters could carry him. Fig Pig did not find any coal that day, but he did find out one very important thing. Always, always, always read the sign before you go into the dark mine!