Mine

Primarily set in the 1860s, Mine tells the story of a struggling middle-aged gold miner called JONATHAN. He cares for his elderly father, ABRAHAM, while working at the nearby gold mine in a mountain that is rumored to be cursed. One day, Jonathan, his colleagues LEWIS, CLARENCE, and THOMAS are sent down to the newly opened, and not fully secure, level three of the mine. No gold has been found since the mine was opened and, the owners are getting desperate. There, the miners find gold, but just as they do the shaft collapses. The falling rubble kills Thomas and traps the other three. With little resources and less time, the miners try to make a small passageway through the rubble, at first they seem able but then it too collapses, crushing their hope. Clarence takes his own life by cutting his wrist, refusing to die a slow and painful death. Clarence dies, and his blood flows towards the end of the shaft, and when it reaches it, it flows upwards! All across the rocks, and as if washing the rock clean, gold is revealed in its wake. Jonathan and Lewis stare at it, both horrified and amazed. A voice speaks to them, the voice of the mountain. It tells them through the gold there's a door, but only one of them can exit. Jonathan and Lewis argue, then fight. Jonathan kills Lewis but is gravely wounded. The golden wall shatters, and a blank space is revealed behind it. Jonathan picks up as much gold as he can, then walks into it. A path leads him down to a water basin, he enters the water, let's the current take him. and when he resurfaces, he is in a river outside the mountain, but more importantly, he is fully healed, and a good twenty years younger. He returns home, unsure how many days have past. He finds an open letter on the floor from the Mining Company, informing his father of his death, and tiny financial compensation. Abraham is clinging barely clinging on to life, but Jonathan knows a way to make him healthy, and young again, and carries Abraham to the now abandoned mine. Jonathan visits the FOREMAN of the mining company, tells him he found gold in the mine and is eager to show it. The Foreman isn’t quite convinced, but the promise of gold is hard to beat. The Foreman brings along FOUR other MINERS to them mine at night, and Jonathan leads them in. Two he convinces to leave, but the other two refuse. Jonathan kills them, and the Foreman. The voice tells him Abraham has to die too. Jonathan cuts his father's wrist but reassures him that it will only be a moment, because the mountain will heal him, and he will be young again. Horrified, Abraham dies. Jonathan carries his father into the water, and they emerge outside in the river. But Abraham isn’t healed, he isn’t young, he is dead. Jonathan mourns his father, curses the mountain, and cries until dawn. When the sun rises, Jonathan awakes, looks at the gold he has, and leaves. 1966, OLD JONATHAN enters a dilapidated mining shop. He shows the ELDERLY OWNER a nugget of gold. He asks if the old miner would be willing to help him get some more, because there’s plenty, In the Mine.