The dig
by Tony Mazzara
The demolition crew worked the large ground in the
cleared out area surrounding the woods. They had a tight
schedule to keep for developing the condominium community. Two bulldozers worked the ground as other machines
finished hauling off trees and stumps.
One long drill went deep into the ground in the afternoon. About two-thirds of the way down, it struck rock. The
foreman, Greg, needed to go further down. He would have to
see about removing the rock. He ordered a diamond drill to
go all the way. He had to see how big and far down this thing
went first.
The driller took his time. He couldn't push the old
machine too hard. During the last few feet, the drill snagged
on something. It screeched and blew out smoke. There was
a commotion among the foreman and some of the crew. The
rock gave way. The tip of the drill went into a pocket of air.
The driller pulled the drill up. Once the dirt and drill
were clear, intense heat and smoke came out from the depths
of the hole.
“Everybody stay back,” Greg yelled.
About an hour later, the heat was gone. Greg looked
down the shaft, though he didn't expect to see anything. He
called over a supervisor.
“Yeah, boss?” Hal said as he went over to Greg.
“You still got that gas sensor in your truck?”
“Yes.”
“I need you to go get it.”
When Hal left, Greg got a crew member to help him
haul some steel poles from the back of another truck and
gather some rope and screws. They made a makeshift scaffolding over the hole.
Hal came back with the sensor. Greg tied it to one end
of the rope and turned it on. They lowered it down the shaft.
There was barely enough rope to get the sensor down into
the pocket of air. They let it sit for a while. Greg pulled up
the rope as one crew member collected it into a circle on the
ground.
When the sensor got back up, everyone was mystified.
It had scratch and bite marks all over it.
“Something is down there,” Greg said. Rocks