Life – More Precious than a Diamond
Ying Wa Primary School, Wan Chung Yin Terry, Fiction: Group 2
J
ohn lived in northern China, close to Mongolia. He was very poor and worked on the
production line in a food factory. He and his wife, Mary, lived in a small wooden house.
They always had empty stomachs. They were freezing all the time during winter. John was
desperate to make more money and wanted to work as a miner.
However, mining was a very dangerous job. John and Mary always argued about whether or
not he should go. Finally, John just left home and went to Oyuu Tolgoi with his two friends, Peter
and Sam, who had already been mining for a year. They met at the train station and travelled to
the mining company.
When John arrived, he felt nervous but quite excited. This was his first mining experience.
Peter saw John’s expression and said, “Hey, don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
They slept in the dorm that night and in the morning, rode camels to the mining site. They
were assigned to the deepest part of the mineshaft in a mining team of thirteen. They put on their
safety helmets with flashlights, and carried their mining tools. While they were walking, John
said in a rather shaky voice, “This is scary…”
Sam replied, “Come on! You’ll soon get used to it.”
The men ventured into the deepest cave and started mining coal, iron and copper. They dug
and dug and dug… Suddenly, John saw a sparkling light deep in the ground. He ran over and
shouted, “Hey, guys! Come over here!”
They discovered that the sparkling light was in fact a diamond! They were amazed. Peter
murmured, “Oh my God…”
“We can make a lot of money!” Sam shrieked excitedly.
“Am I dreaming?” John asked, “Is that seriously a diamond? I can’t believe it! My wife will be
so happy!”
Just as John had finished speaking, a huge explosion rocked the cave. The stalactites on the
ceiling fell down like a waterfall. The rocks blocked the entrance of the mineshaft and the three
friends blacked out.
After a while, John woke up. He noticed the fallen rocks. He quickly woke Peter and Sam, who
were next to him. They were terrified and trembling. Sam calmed them down and said, “Okay,
don’t panic! Let’s find a way out of here.”
They scrambled up to the entrance and saw that the other miners had been crushed by the
rocks. They were all dead. It was a horrible scene! Luckily, the friends only had cuts and bruises.
They finally found their way to the entrance but it was blocked by enormous rocks. They tried
mining through them, but it was no use. They also tried to contact rescuers with their walkie-
talkie but there was no reception. “Maybe we can find a secret exit. Let’s look!” They started
walking back down the mineshaft.
“I think it’s because there were thirteen of us, so we’re trapped down here.” Peter joked.
“You still have time to joke?” Sam asked angrily, “Just shut up and keep searching!” They
searched and searched until John found a sign that said: Exit #2 above.
“Every cloud has a silver lining! Mary, I’ll try my best to return to you.” John thought. They
climbed up the rocks and found an old bridge. Beneath it was a pool of lava. ”Be careful not to
