He grew up in a small mining town. His father, whose name is Grant Rockwell, was a supervisor at the Stone Valley mine, where they mined for coal. Grant, like most of the other miners, had a family. His oldest son looked up to his father and wanted to be just like him. His Father named his son Jet Rockwell, and he couldn't be more proud of his son. When he was old enough, Jet started working in the mine just like his dad did when he turned ten. His job was to clean up the holding area where they placed the carts once filled with coal. It was a job that kept Jet out of the dangers that came with mining. When Jet was working, part of the mine started to collapse, and he saw his dad rush in to make sure all the miners got out safely. Shortly after, his dad ran into where the miners were. The ceiling collapsed, trapping all of them inside. Jet called out for his father as the mine collapse but got no response. As the dust cleared, he realized that there was no way to get to his father.
He ran over to where the cave-in happened, and with tears in his eyes and anger taking over every other emotion, he started pounding on the wall of rocks wishing and hoping he could get through so he could save his father. After about three strikes with each fist, his hands started to bleed. He didn’t care as long as the anger-fueled his anger. He continued to punch at the boulders that kept him away from his father. His fists went numb, but he continued until he heard what he thought was the sound of the boulders cracking. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and he decided to look at the damage he had done to his hands. When he looked down at his hands, he was shocked at what he saw. His hands were no longer bleeding, and the flesh of his hand looked and felt like it had been replaced with smooth granite. He looked at his arms, and they also looked like granite. He then turned his attention back to the cave-in and cursed himself for getting sidetracked and started punching the wall of rock again. When he hit the boulders, a small crack would form, so he started hitting them harder and faster.
After about five minutes, he had managed to break some of the smaller boulders loose. He moved them out of the way and started on the bigger ones. After another exhausting five minutes, he had managed to put a couple of long cracks in the biggest one. His arms dropped to his sides. He stumbled over to the side of mine, where he leaned against it trying to catch his breath. He then slowly slid to the ground, completely exhausted. After a few minutes, he looked up at the challenge and stood before him, and as he looked at it, the thought came to him that he had been punching it in the wrong spot and that he knows exactly where the weak point is. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He told himself that he must be going crazy because there is no way he could figure that out. He took another look at the cave in, and the weak point was all of a sudden glowing with a bright white light, and he knew that he needed to focus on that spot, and if he did that, he would get through.
He stood slowly with his newfound resolve, walked back over to the boulders that blocked his path, found the weakest spot in the boulders, and with the first strike, he yelled, “You will not stop me from saving my father!”
With each additional strike, he yelled, “I will break through!”
After the fifth stroke, he heard the loudest crack he had ever heard, and he took a couple of steps back just as the boulders crumbled at his feet, and he could feel the air blow past him and start to fill the part of the tunnel where his dad would be. He climbed over the pile of rubble that lay at his feet. He ran down the tunnel to get to his father. He took the second left and headed down another part of the tunnel and saw his dad helping one of the other miners to his feet. Jet looked at his father and, with tears in his eyes, called out to him, “Dad! You’re okay.”
Grant turned around just as his son got to him and embraced him, “How did you get down here?”
“I…I punched my way through, I had to save you.”
“You’re not making any sense, son, but we don’t have time to figure it out. We need to get out of here before we get trapped down here again. All three of them hurried back towards the elevator and the entrance to the mine. They stopped in their tracks when they got to the elevator. They found out that it had been damaged in the cave in. Grant put his arm around his son, “It will be okay son, we will figure out another way out of here.”
“But Dad, the elevator is the only way up to the surface.”
“That may be so, but I didn’t think anyone would be able to clear enough rubble to get Gus and I out of the east tunnel, but you did it. If you can do that, then we can find another way to the surface.”
He thought about what his dad had said, and an idea came to him, “Dad. I have an idea, but I’m not a hundred percent sure it's going to work.”
“Well, son, we don’t have any other options, so let's hear it.”
“Umm, well, all we have to do is use the elevator shaft to get to the surface.”
“The elevator is destroyed, son how are we suppose to use it to get the surface?”
“I think it will make more sense if I show you.”
“Alright, what do we need to do?”
Jet took a couple of minutes to look over the elevator and the elevator shaft, and then he said, “We need to get rid of what's left of the elevator, so if you can help me with that, then I can get us to the surface.”
“How?”
“Dad, you are going to have to trust me on this one. I promise I can get us out.”
“That's all I need to know.”
Gus, Grant, and Jet cleared away what was left of the elevator away from the shaft, and then Jet said, “Now I need the two of you to stand in the middle of the shaft, and I will do the rest.” They looked at each other with a puzzled look and walked into the elevator shaft, and then Jet joined them. Jet closed his eyes and concentrated on the dirt floor they were standing on. After he had a mental picture of the floor under their feet, he slowly raised his hands, and as he raised them, the floor started to rise as well, and they slowly headed towards the surface. Once they were at the surface and had stepped out of the elevator shaft. The rock platform that had taken them to the surface fell back down to the bottom and crumbled into a pile of rubble.
Grant looked at his son with gratitude in his eyes, “I knew you were special, I just didn’t know how special. Thank you for saving us, son.”
Jet looked up into his father's eyes, “I love you, dad.”
“I love you too, son.”
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