Creative Writing : The Gale
Creative Writing : The Gale
A shrieking gale hurled itself against the helpless trees, constantly pounding them, and quickly removing the remains of a once proud foliage. My eyes stung as I silently stared out of the window, concentrating upon the small yet dense copse that lay at the bottom of the path. It amazed me when I thought how feeble we really are when compared to mother nature, the immense monstrosity that could easily wipe out a population within seconds; yet effortlessly create another so soon.
I quickly snapped myself out of the hypnotic condition I was currently under, I had never grasped the idea of a concept like that before, and it soon escalated to the point where I couldn't think of anything else. What if there was a domineering force like mother nature, who could do whatever it pleased with us, whenever it felt like it? I would just have to try and stop worrying about it for the moment, I had higher priorities to deal with.
After a highly appealing session of channel surfing on the television, I was overwhelmed with fatigue from the day's activities. Working as part of a demolition team could be extremely tiring at times, and the exhaustion from the work always caught up with you. We were currently working on tearing down an old unused effluent plant, which was not the nicest experience. The place was a rancid labyrinth of rat infested channels, ducts and pools, and it was all to be removed.
However, at times the job did have it's advantages; it was considered a skilled occupation, so the pay was fairly good. Plus, working outdoors made me feel a lot better than being confined to a cramped office, where I would more than likely only be accompanied by a computer.
After gathering my thoughts I picked myself up from the dusty old armchair I had arranged myself in and headed to my bedroom. That was another advantage of living in a bottom-floor apartment I thought to myself; there were no creaky stairs I had to drag myself up just to get to bed.
My dreams were not at their best that night. In them I was visited once again by the visions of that jagged thunderbolt approaching me, at the speed that only otherworldly creatures could visualize. Nevertheless, I would manage to cope with the haunting hallucinations ...
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After gathering my thoughts I picked myself up from the dusty old armchair I had arranged myself in and headed to my bedroom. That was another advantage of living in a bottom-floor apartment I thought to myself; there were no creaky stairs I had to drag myself up just to get to bed.
My dreams were not at their best that night. In them I was visited once again by the visions of that jagged thunderbolt approaching me, at the speed that only otherworldly creatures could visualize. Nevertheless, I would manage to cope with the haunting hallucinations I received, reminding me of the past event.
I awoke to the more depressing sound of torrential rain thudding against my windows, like the steady yet heavy beat of a machine gun. It reflected my attitude perfectly, even the dark, grey sky matched it. The fact that I was knowledgeable to the fact that the plant would be semi-flooded with sour fluids caused by the rain mixing with the small amounts of sewage that were already there made it worse for me. Still, I headed off in my barely adequate car and made for the enclosure.
I arrived only fifteen minutes late, which was more than likely a record for me. Mind you, what could your supervisor expect from a twenty-one year old slob who spent his days drinking enormous amounts of alcohol for fun. I was promptly greeted by the deep glaring stare of the obese monster I had for a manager, Podgy Preston. He achieved his nickname for his reputation to leave us struggling in our work while he waddled to the nearest lardy chip shop on his overgrown milk-bottle legs.
"How on earth do you manage to continuously arrive late, this job isn't there to be abused, you know son!". The urge and temptation to laugh at this pathetic excuse for a workman was almost overruling, and was only expressed my a slight cheeky grin on my face.
"Don't worry, it won't be happening again" I replied, obviously not taking any notice whatsoever of his existence.
"Too god damn right it won't!" he said, his putrid breath reminded me of the sewerage, just waiting ahead of me to be removed. There was a million and one disgusting tasks I would rather do than this I thought to myself. However, for some reason unknown to me I felt an element of strange suspicion in the damp air. Little did I know I was soon to discover why....
I entered the small temporary wooden shack that was erected the previous week, and I donned my Gortex boiler suit and respiratory mask, complete with head protection and goggles. Even though it was a typical cold autumn day, I sweated a great deal under the layers of synthetic material. I opened the door and stepped outside to see the rain was thudding down, once again in a torrential manner. Yet, somehow I managed to persuade myself to make a sorrowful way down to the main area of work.
As my thick white wading boots crunched heavily on soggy grass, the enormous cereal bowl look-alike structure came into view, and I carefully dragged myself to join the figures that moped around within it. I slowly dipped my leg into the rotting cesspit, and the cruelty of it's contents crept up to my knees immediately. I promptly made a mental note to thank the lord for giving us the discovery of wading equipment, this job was a lot easier to cope with thanks to them.
I began a slimy journey over to a workmate with a large suction device, and swiftly helped him accomplish the job. It was then I realised who he was, it was Jason; probably the only decent co-worker I had in this lousy job. It was so difficult to tell who everyone was in that apparatus, but I suppose I'd manage. I gave him a quick head-nod to acknowledge him and let him know I'd recognised him. He gave one back.
Jason turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees and raised his arm and began to wave it. It took me a while to apprehend what he was doing, and when I felt the large contraption begin to vibrate I realised it was a signal for the foreman to activate the suction process. I held the cold, steel rafter tight and hoped this wasn't going to be too vigorous.
The noise was the worst part. It reminded me of an air show I visited as a child, when I saw an airplane take off for the first time. It was a surprising cacophony of thunderous, deafening clatters, close to the scream of a banshee.
A massive jolt of swirling supremacy overruled my legs, and I felt as if I was about to fall, so I quickly grabbed a gigantic rut on the tube of the device and hung on for dear life. Jason seemed to be coping easily though, and looked extremely dextrous as he carried out the job.
The main component of the device was a gigantic beastly titanium tube, which must have measured a meter in radius. It was reminiscent of the exhaust of a gigantic articulated vehicle. You had to see it to believe it's size.
After a couple of minutes I got into the sway of the job, and had discovered there was a podium I was meant to stand upon to keep me out of harms way. I shouldn't have even been operating the machinery, I wasn't trained and if the safety department found out I would be in major trouble. I had already started by now though, I may as well finish I thought.
Suddenly, I saw Jason disappear as he flew from where he was standing and smacked the hard abrasive surface of the metal. He then continued to slip down the side of the standing platform until he rolled of the edge. I stuck my hand out to grab him but he was gone by now, and my heart shot up into my mouth. I watched him plunge into the 3-foot of sewerage, and temporarily disappear beneath the revolting substance. He popped up again, and I reached down to grab him but he flew back under. All I saw after that was a mangled leg wrap itself around the side of the tube. No other part of his body was visible, apart from this bloody, lacerated limb.
This left me in an awkward position too; I had to decide what to do. I reminded myself not too panic, and came to the fairly logical conclusion that the machinery needed to be switched off now, else he would drown or be torn by the sucking power of the device. I turned a flailed madly in an attempt to wave to the foreman to switch it off, but there was no foreman there anymore. In a desperate attempt, I smashed my fist into the large control panel alongside the electricity supply pipes. Nothing happened. I smashed again and again, and then a miracle happened. My fist cracked the entire mass of the tube and it's debris flew metres away. I was astonished for a moment, until I realised Jason was still beneath the sewerage.
I jumped from the collapsing platform and landed in the pulpy, decaying solution alongside
