The Goldminers by Michelle Rene Sexton

This is a true story and a tragedy.

The story is about two goldminers that wanted to find gold in an old mine. One goldminer was good and experienced about mining and the other goldminer was there only for support and to help when needed. They both began work in the mine and months later the inexperienced miner decided that he could do the work himself thinking it was his idea and he didn't need the experienced miner any more. One day the good gold miner went to the mine and found that the the inexperienced goldminer had hidden all the tools and took the money so that the good goldminer could buy no more tools.

The bad goldminer told the good goldminer that he had to leave and that he was no longer welcome to use the tools to dig for gold, even though the good goldminer found the mine and had made it his profession to look for gold. The good goldminer was upset at first but he decided to go home and come back tomorrow, thinking that the bad goldminer was having a bad day. The next day came and the good goldminer went to the mine and found that the bad goldminer had hired guards to keep him away from his mine. The good goldminer begged to come back to work again saying that they could share the gold that they both found, but the bad goldminer and his guards just laughed at him saying that he could never find enough money to buy more tools. Everyday for the next six months the good goldminer would go to the mine and ask the guards if he could work. Every time that he went back they all just laughed.

Finally one day when the good goldminer went to the mine he saw the people standing by a caved-in hole.

"What happened?" asked the good goldminer. He knew that because of their carelessness the mine with all the tools and money inside had caved in and that the bad goldminer and his guards would not be able to continue mining for gold.

"We don't know what happened" said the bad goldminer but its ALL YOUR FAULT!

"Why is it my fault?" asked the good goldminer. "As I remember it was you and your guards who took my money and supplies and forced me to leave my mine that was doing fine before you took control of it. So, I would guess that the problem came from you. If you had not taken over the mine we would both be sharing the gold right now."

"I don't care,your just as poor as I am now!" yelled the bad goldminer. "That's where you are wrong", declared the good goldminer. "I figured that I couldn't trust you so just in case I hid some extra money and went to town to buy new supplies. I found another mine not too far away and it is filled with gold. I only came by to see if you needed any help. So you see, I am not a poor man, nor will I ever be again."

The bad goldminer looked at him in puzzlement.

"You see that because of your greed you lost all of your wealth and a friend who would have taken care of you forever. If you had not been so greedy and mean we could have shared all the gold in the mine. Now you will have to pay for the consequences of you actions. You will have to stay with the guard who never liked or helped you", said the good goldminer. "Goodbye, old friend."

The bad goldminer looked on helplessly as the good goldminer walked away. The bad goldminer knew he had lost but still was not ready to admit it.

"Well, you will have to share the new gold with me", shouted the bad goldminer.

The good goldminer looked back and asked why should he have to share his gold when he found the new mine by himself.

"Because we are partners", said the bad goldminer. "No, we are not partners anymore", said the good goldminer. "You gave up our partnership when you stole my first mine from me".
"We could start a new partnership", said the bad goldminer. "I would still be in control if we did. I will be the one making all the decisions and you will do the hard work in the mine. That sounds fair to me. If you don't agree then I won't help you start another mine", boasted the bad goldminer.

The good goldminer turned around and couldn't beleive what he was hearing. The bad goldminer was serious. He really thought that HE had started the first mine. He thought he had mined the mine all by himself.

"I don't need your help with the new mine and you don't own any part of it. I own it 100%. I learned from my first mistake and I put the mine in my name only, and I am not sharing it with anyone. So you see, I don't need you to help me start over. I can do it all myself, but you do own half of the caved-in mine and you can do what you want with it."

The good goldminer then walked away from the bad goldminer and never looked back. No one really knows what happened to the bad goldminer but the good goldminer made so much money from his new mine that he retired at an early age and lived a long life of happiness, without any regrets.



COPYRIGHT 2008 Michelle Rene Sexton All Rights Reserved
Portions may be quoted for review and discussion purposes only.
Used here with permission

Manduke Publishing Group