User:Prism55Writes/The Diary of an Old Miner

Warning: This pasta is a long read.

Day 241, 21:43
It's been 241 days since I entered this mine. Actually, I am not even sure how long it's been. Our clock claims it has been 241 days, however it could very well be incorrect, considering a few weeks back Bob dropped it from a small cave ledge. However, we can not know, so I will just assume that the clock is right.

That means that it's been 241 days since I have seen the sun. 241 days since I felt sunrays hit my skin, filling me with warmth. 241 days shrouded in the darkness of the caves, with the only light sources being lanterns, torches, or pools of molten magma. 241 days spent under millions of cubic metres of rock.

And 241 days spent fullfilling our lifelong dream - mining diamonds.

Today, Bob entered the cave we had not dared to enter for weeks, after one almost deadly encounter with a creeper inside. After properly lighting the place up, Bob managed to discover a large vein of iron, and also extracted a few gold pieces. I scanned our fully explored cave systems yet again, and collected any leftover ores. I managed to locate roughly seven iron ores, a miniscule gold vein, and two diamond gems.

Afterwards, I decided to begin cutting out another mineshaft. I set up a small amount of TNT near the spot where I wanted my mine, connected it to a button using redstone wires, and hid behind a corner. I then pressed the button, and after a few seconds I was greeted by a loud bang and small pieces of rock impacting my skin. I peeked around the corner, and to my delight, a part of the wall was blown off, revealing a few gold ores and a lake of lava.

I walked up to the spot, before setting to work. I first collected any gems or ores that were on the ground after being ripped out of their spots during the explosion. Then, I used my trusty iron pickaxe to slowly chip away the already damaged rock around any ores or gems still stuck in the walls in order to extract them. Afterwards, I poured a bunch of water buckets ontop of the lava lake in order to solidify the upper layer of the lava. I did this simply for safety reasons, as I did not want anyone falling in the magma and burning to death.

After a productive day of mining, I returned to our cave base. After pacing around the room for some time, I made the decision to expand the storage area below the base. I took out my pickaxe, before slowly mining away the walls of the storage room until the room was bigger by roughly one meter in every direction.

By the time I left the storage room, Danny and Bob were sitting on their beds, with Rob chipping away the wall in a nearby cave. Jim and Don were nowhere to be seen.

I was tired after a long day of work. I just washed myself using one bucket of water, placed all today's valuables in my chest and jumped straight in my bed. And that is where I am right now, writing these words. I am closing the diary for today. Good night.

Day 242, 13:27
When I woke up today, according to the clock it was 9:45. Jim, Don and Rob were already up, doing their morning chores. I kicked my sheets away, before sitting upright and opening my chest.

Three of my diamonds were gone.

I was in awe. Even after double-counting the shiny blue rocks, I only managed to count twenty seven gems. Yesterday's counting told me that I had thirty.

This baffled me. I was pretty sure that the only people in this mine were me and my five miner friends. I was in disbelief that my friends would have stolen my diamonds. Unless... there was someone else in the mine with us.

These thoughts prevented me from achieving anything. My mind was racing the entire day. I did not tell anyone about this incident, as I did not want it to seem like I was accusing them of stealing my valuables. I was thinking about this the entire day, and I decided to go to bed a bit earlier. And that is where I am right now. I am closing the diary for today.

Day 243, 22:34
Today, I confronted my friends about the disappearance of my diamonds. I told them all that one night ago, three of my gemstones disappeared from the chest near my bed. My friends, however, had no idea what I was talking about. Jim and Rob explicitly denied any accusations of theft. Danny suggested that I could have miscounted my diamonds the day before they got stolen, or that I miscounted them and that is why I think I have less than I should. It seemed like the most likely explanation, however it just did not seem right to me. Whenever I counted my valuables, I always managed to count the correct amount, no matter what. It just was not something I would do.

I decided to just go with it. But deep inside me, I knew it was not the truth.

After that, we split up. I made the decision to continue expanding my new mineshaft. So, I packed up my things and set to work.

After arriving at my destination, I started digging away the wall, one by one. Along my way, I uncovered one minor coal vein, which contained over thirty lumps of the black material. I then continued digging the wall away, until my pickaxe dulled and barely chipped the rock away. That is when I decided to go back to our underground base.

That's when I noticed him.

As I exited my freshly-dug corridor, I could hear footsteps run across the cold rock floor. I swiftly sprinted out of the corridor, just to see... something run across the cave and behind a corner. I did not recognize any features of the thing, merely that it was gray just as the stone, and very fast. I could not recognize any features, as it was moving so fast that it looked merely as a gray smudge.

I immediately ran out of the corridor and followed the thing behind the corner. I did not hear the footsteps slowly get quieter, they just disappeared. And so did the gray thing. It was nowhere to be seen.

I quickly packed up all my items and left the area. While I was walking back to out base, I swear I heard footsteps. Running close to me, all around me. Sometimes even coming seemingly from within the walls. They were everywhere.

I arrived at our base, with everyone already minding their bussiness within its walls. I asked everyone about the footsteps and if they heard them or saw a gray figure. Nobody did, I was the only one who saw the strange gray figure. I was also the only one hearing footsteps.

I am going to go to sleep right now, I need to calm down after this weird encounter. I am closing the diary for today. Good night.

Unfinished...