The reason that I have jumped two years ahead in time is that I did something very different the morning that I have jumped to. I started to dig, this was not because I had any true desire to, nor a burning wish to find out what was under the crust. I was ordered to dig by my boss, one of the more well known scientists of our time. I had been hired for the soul purpose of digging so that was what I did, one shovel full at a time so the team behind me could analyze every speck of dirt carefully. They were trying to find any trace of the sky that might remain. I couldn't see the point, I mean it had been gone for so long that I was sure it was gone. Still times were hard and there was no way that I could turn down a paying job like this one.
It was slow going since I had to shovel slowly for the people behind me to sift and test. We only got down a few feet that first day but by the end of the month they were having to lower a ladder and a light for me every day, as well as a bucket for me to put each shovel full in. I wondered if the scientists even knew what they were looking for, had they ever taken a sample of the sky before it fell to know what went into it? I never got to talk to the actual scientists though, I was a lowly employee who only ever got to talk to the aids, I never access to the brains to ask. I did my job as I was told and got my paycheck and felt no true investment in whether or not they found where the sky went or some lost city. I had already dug through some ruins of what they told me were long dead cities.
I guess the scientists did know what they were looking for because they grew excited as I dug and moved me to a new spot where I had to start the hole all over. They went faster now, with less caution and less fear. With them going faster I was forced to as well and at the end of every day I could feel my muscles scream at me for the work that I was doing.
When I hit the rock I sighed and reached for the intercom to report it. I could hardly see the light from the sun, far, far above me. There was no way for me to hoist a large rock out of the hole by myself and sometimes the project would be put on hold for several day stretches to pull the object out before work could continue. I stepped on the rock though as I reached for the rock and it sunk under my weight. That didn't seem right at all, this deep underground rocks had never sunk under my feet before. I stomped a few more times experimentally and the rock gave out under my feet completely and I fell. As I fell I grabbed for anything I could reach, which turned out to be the suspended light. While the cord on the light was strong enough to support something as light as a lantern it turned out not to be made for human weight and rather then holding me up it came down with me.
I was in a cavern when I stood from my fall, shaken by the distance though I could feel no broken bones. I had rolled when I fell, just like I had always been told to, and that had saved me from a lot of damage. Holding the light up to the walls of the cavern I realized it was all man made, rather then the rock it had looked like at first it was slime covered bricks. It had probably been the hall of some castle or a long forgotten street in the city I had already dug through the remains of. I looked around the best I could with my light, afraid of finding skeletons but I found none. I was all alone in this huge expanse with no way of getting in touch with the bosses to tell them I had fallen. I knew from past experience that even if I shouted they wouldn't be able to understand me from as far away as they were. I would have to wait until they started wondering what had happened to me, which I knew probably wouldn't be long. All it would take would be the shovels full of dirt to stop and they would start wondering. If they couldn't get me on the intercom they would send someone down to check on me for sure. I would just have to wait.
to be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment