The mine manager sat at her desk nervously. Blackmail is what it was. Someone was going to turn them in, and her employer would get fined, and they might even fire her.
Thus tonight. It was 2am, and she’d made a few discreet calls to workers she could trust to do a good job and then go back home, saying nothing other than “Thank you” for the extra cash.
One woman was on the backhoe, clearing a path to the side of the leaking tank while a man stood by with his welding rig and a metal sheet he’d run through a set of rollers to make a patch for the tank. With most of the dirt out of the way, they got in there with a small shovel and finished clearing the way, brushed the last of the dirt off the tank, located the leak, and patched it.
They replaced the dirt and tamped it down tight, even the mine manager helping.
They were gone by 3am.
A week later, the manager was back out in her small field office, needing to do a bit of paperwork to finish mothballing this mine. Another note was on her desk. Another note weighted down by a chunk of gold-laced rock! Oh, shit…
She picked up the note and read it. It simply said:
Thank you.
— Gaia
She pocketed the rock, then sat down and thought many thoughts before settling down to her work, a small guilty smile eventually creeping onto her face.
4 thoughts on “Epilogue”
I have really enjoyed this story. I look forward to another of yours.
This story is possibly the best I have read on this board or any other board that features nudity. I liked it even more that Blair Cavell’s Exhibitionist Next Door and Summer at Caiche Lake that was on the ASN – and that is saying a lot.
The link with the environment and pollution gave it that extra something.
I suppose I’d better finish up the next story, then!
I’ve adopted a practice recommended by another writer, where you write 3 novels in a series before publishing the first, so you have a chance to go back and fix continuity problems before the story’s locked in by being published. So, it’s not that story 2 isn’t “finished,” it’s that work on story 4 is still in progress, which means story 2 is still getting touched occasionally to help the progression in 3 and 4.
This isn’t an idle worry. Not that long ago, I made major changes to story 2 that rippled through 3 and 4. In that way, work tends to slow as I go, because I have more restrictions to carry through to the current writing point.
Still, you’ve kicked me in the pants, so I’ll get back to work on story 4!
I have really enjoyed this story. I look forward to another of yours.
This story is possibly the best I have read on this board or any other board that features nudity. I liked it even more that Blair Cavell’s Exhibitionist Next Door and Summer at Caiche Lake that was on the ASN – and that is saying a lot.
The link with the environment and pollution gave it that extra something.
More Please
Most kind!
I suppose I’d better finish up the next story, then!
I’ve adopted a practice recommended by another writer, where you write 3 novels in a series before publishing the first, so you have a chance to go back and fix continuity problems before the story’s locked in by being published. So, it’s not that story 2 isn’t “finished,” it’s that work on story 4 is still in progress, which means story 2 is still getting touched occasionally to help the progression in 3 and 4.
This isn’t an idle worry. Not that long ago, I made major changes to story 2 that rippled through 3 and 4. In that way, work tends to slow as I go, because I have more restrictions to carry through to the current writing point.
Still, you’ve kicked me in the pants, so I’ll get back to work on story 4!
All right, here we go… Part 1 of book 2 is up: The Leverage of Magic.
Thank you for the push, RikkiBare! I hope you enjoy it!