Williams Supplement Essay - Up for Sharing?

coalminerson
Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:10:40 +0000

Meh, I don’t see what could go wrong since the deadline has passed. Anyways, wasn’t it approximately 300 words? I’ll start off:

“An Appalachian Communion”

He threw down his shovel and leaned his head against the wall, drawing breath with difficulty as he went. The man, blackened by soot and coal dust, turned the knob on a rusty kerosene lamp. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out a faded picture. Upon it was his family, for whom he toiled. A knock came at the door to the old shack beside the mine. The man inside turned and greeted the visitor, his neighbor, who was in poor health. The sickly man had no food for his family this night; he was old and could not work, for the mines had taken his breath. The miner, who himself was poor and struggled to feed his family, gave his friend the meal he had intended to eat after his day underground. My grandfather took off his helmet and sat down on the old bench beside the window. He was tired and hungry; but even though it snowed upon the hills, the inside of the little shanty was warm. My grandfather lit his old pipe, took a puff, and passed it towards his neighbor with a smile.

I did not think it could be true that my grandfather gave up his meal after working ten hours beneath the Earth. He never told me about that night in the winter, but the neighbor’s son did. When I asked him about it later, he simply smiled at me and looked above the fireplace on the mantle. There, placed amongst the pictures of his family and fellow miners, was an old mining helmet with a light atop it. I smiled as I realized that although he labored in darkness, he would always shine a light for all men to see.