04-18-2018, 06:51 AM
Waste water
The duty phone vibrated
off my bedside table,
rubbing one eye, I sat on the edge of the bed.
"Hello"
"Hi is that Keith? There's been a large oil spill and we think it's got into the river"
"Shit, close the main discharge valve, I'll be there in an hour"
"Where's the main discharge valve"
"I'll be there in half an hour"
I squinted at the coloured lights on the phone, 3:00am.
The unwanted night air had a silence that amplified my movements
and the car clocks seemed brighter as I turned over the ignition.
I imagined driving into an apocalypse on empty roads.
Work was quiet only a small crew were there at night,
no wonder they call it the graveyard shift.
I took the shift manager to the middle of a huge concrete loading bay
and pointed at the inspection hatch.
" They don't pay me enough to go down there at night",
he said, passing me the torch.
We used two Tee bar keys to lift the manhole
and I began my decent into the abyss.
As I gripped the rusty steel ladder the torchlight
swung around, all I could hear was rushing water.
I reached the bottom, standing in water I moved the light around the chamber.
One of our largest boreholes had burst, washing away all the ground under the slab
A vast pool of spring water was running through the main valve down to the river.
I closed the valve, staying in the chamber to see how quickly the level would rise.
It was then I noticed a flash of silver in the water, then another and another,
thousands of tiny fish had swam towards the light. I couldn't believe it,
I took out my phone to take a picture and shouted back up to the top,
" you'll never guess what's down here?"
As I spoke something very large and very dark scattered the minows.
I can honestly say I don't remember climbing the ladder.
The duty phone vibrated
off my bedside table,
rubbing one eye, I sat on the edge of the bed.
"Hello"
"Hi is that Keith? There's been a large oil spill and we think it's got into the river"
"Shit, close the main discharge valve, I'll be there in an hour"
"Where's the main discharge valve"
"I'll be there in half an hour"
I squinted at the coloured lights on the phone, 3:00am.
The unwanted night air had a silence that amplified my movements
and the car clocks seemed brighter as I turned over the ignition.
I imagined driving into an apocalypse on empty roads.
Work was quiet only a small crew were there at night,
no wonder they call it the graveyard shift.
I took the shift manager to the middle of a huge concrete loading bay
and pointed at the inspection hatch.
" They don't pay me enough to go down there at night",
he said, passing me the torch.
We used two Tee bar keys to lift the manhole
and I began my decent into the abyss.
As I gripped the rusty steel ladder the torchlight
swung around, all I could hear was rushing water.
I reached the bottom, standing in water I moved the light around the chamber.
One of our largest boreholes had burst, washing away all the ground under the slab
A vast pool of spring water was running through the main valve down to the river.
I closed the valve, staying in the chamber to see how quickly the level would rise.
It was then I noticed a flash of silver in the water, then another and another,
thousands of tiny fish had swam towards the light. I couldn't believe it,
I took out my phone to take a picture and shouted back up to the top,
" you'll never guess what's down here?"
As I spoke something very large and very dark scattered the minows.
I can honestly say I don't remember climbing the ladder.
If your undies fer you've been smoking through em, don't peg em out