David the mole did not have many friends, and those that he
did have were more just work acquaintances from his job in the tunnels rather
than close comrades.
They were friendly towards him and would invite him out to
drink with them at the watering hole just passed the farmer's field after their
shifts ended but he would always politely decline and head home to his little
burrow on the outskirts of the mole underground town.
Too busy working on his project, he would tell them, but
never elaborate further.
So while his coworkers would go off to enjoy themselves,
David the mole would go back to his mole hole alone and work on his mysterious
plans into the wee hours of the day, before finally getting some rest and then
heading back out in the early hours of the night to begin his shift in the
tunnels.
The mole council had decreed it was too dangerous to expand
the Mole Town tunnels any further to the west for
fear of being discovered by the humans that dwelt there in the city at the base
of the mountain.
Thus the tunnelling teams had to burrow through the rocky
grounds to the east; which was slow and hard going due to the big boulders they
would encounter, causing them to either have to find a way around or backtrack
to start an entirely new tunnel.
Needless to say, it was an arduous task and many a mole had
been injured, and even a few had lost their lives when a tunnel had collapsed
when of a patch of loose boulders got hit upon.
Such losses were tragic, but the devastation that the moles
would suffer if discovered by the humans would be even more catastrophic the
council had ruled.
So the tunnel teams toiled on through the perilous nights to
ensure Mole Town would stay secret and safe as more
and more space was needed for all the new moles moving in from the dangerous
wilds beyond the farmer's field.
But David the mole had thought of a better way, and it was
to that end that he spent his many tireless days planning and calculating.
Until finally it was time to put his plans in motion.
In the early mornings after his shift tunnelling eastward,
while the others headed for their post-work wind down, David the mole would go
to the west end tunnel and begin burrowing in secret.
Towards the mountain base in the west he would dig alone
into the late day until he was almost too exhausted to make it back to his
burrow and pass out for a few precious hours of sleep before having to get up
and dig at his actual job.
For months he went on like this, until his coworkers grew
concerned he was becoming ill due to his weight loss and gaunt visage. But he
would just say he had not been sleeping well and trundle off to his mysterious
project.
After a couple of these explanations his tunnelling team members
decided to see what was really happening.
Keeping their distance, they followed David after work one
morning, through the maze of tunnels westward, until they reached what should
have been the end of the boundary of Mole
Town , yet there was a new
tunnel that continued on under the forbidden human realm.
None of them had ever ventured this far west, burrowing
under the human city above, but their curiosity and concern for what their
enigmatic friend was up to drew them further on.
Up ahead they saw David round a bend and disappear.
Cautiously, they crept around the corner of the tight tunnel
and were caught by surprise as they tumbled into a vast empty void that
sparkled with refracted light coming from the exposed gem stones that littered
the high domed ceiling of the space.
They all rolled out of the tunnel that dropped a ways down
to the dirt floor of the shimmery arena.
David turned from his spot higher up the far slope in
surprise himself at seeing his coworkers taking in the awe inspiring space.
Scurrying over to the huddled group, David tried to usher
them back out the tunnel from where they had all come, but a rumbling had
already begun to shake the subterranean room.
The group stopped stubbornly and refused to move until David
explained what he was up to.
There was no time, he explained as the shaking intensified.
The mountain, he shrieked, the mountain was coming down!
A huge piece of the rocky ceiling came crashing down beside
them, shattering into bits and that was enough to get the group scrambling for
the tunnel, with David leading the way.
Once in the cramped tunnel the team started to head back the
way they had come, but David took them straight into a secret off-shoot tunnel
that began to incline through the darkness immediately.
Up and up they climbed as the entire ground around them
threatened to collapse and swallow them into the earth.
Finally they emerged into the bright midday air, momentarily
blinding them all as the dust and dirt shot out of the tunnel behind them in a
great gust air.
Once they donned their tinted work goggles in order to see
in the intense light of the sun, the moles looked around at where they had
escaped to.
With astonishment, they surveyed the area where the mountain
had been just moments before, and the rubble pile that was previously the human
city.
As the dust and debris settled they could see that there was
nothing left of either the city or the mountain, only a fresh new pile of dirt,
for as far as they could see to the west.
The tunnel team looked back at David who was fidgeting
awkwardly under their gazes.
With a triumphant cheer, they all rushed to him and lifted
him up onto their furry shoulders.
He had done it; quiet, shy David the mole had brought down
the mountain and changed everything.
Now began the rise of the Empire of the Moles.
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