Only one post today but it’s good… a story!

Faster

By Zachary Storch

Jeff Hansen watched another tree fall to the whirling blades of the tree clearer, hearing the lurching of wood followed by a loud thud as the trunk landed onto the cleared grass, throwing up a cloud of musty dirt. The smells of sap and overworked, overheating motors was carried through the logging camp on sawdust.

 “How much is a log worth anyway?” Jeff shouted to Head Logging Supervisor Matt Kaleb.

“We don’t get paid by the tree Jeff, we get paid for clearing them all so buildings can be built,” Head Logging Supervisor Matt Kaleb smacked a mosquito off his arm as it jabbed into him. It fell down to the ground, dead like the trees but silent. “We got someone coming down here today who says he has something that will change our work forever, make it faster.”

The day continued on, the sun making the air hot and muggy, the nearby marsh bringing humidity to the air and with it swarms of misquotes. It was tough work but he needed the job. Three hours before sunset, a big charcoal black van zoomed up to the camp, stopped abruptly and a man dressed all in black, from his thick black glasses to his black hat and suit, leaped out of the driver’s door and slammed it behind him.

“Gather round, I know you men are all busy!” he shouted over the noise of the camp, gesturing wildly with his arms to call the attention of the workers. “No need to waste more time, just drop what you are doing and you can start doing it faster!”

Head Logging Supervisor Matt, Jeff and the other workers rushed to the van. They watched as the man in black threw open his trunk and pulled out a large black case. He dashed over to a wooden table and put the case down, clicking open the latch. Out from the case he lifted a large, black mechanical device. He lashed the belt hanging from it around his arm then pulled the trigger. From the front of the device shot a hot jet of fire.

“There are more of these in the back of the van, quick, grab them! Think of all the time you could save with these! Clear the trees in record time!” the man in black called out.

Jeff watched in horror as Head Logging Supervisor Matt and the other workers ran to the back of the van and retrieved their own fire-spitting device. They rushed back to the trees with the devices on their arms. The whir of blades was over; a roar of fire overtook all sound. Ash drifted into the air, the burnt charcoal smell overwhelming to Jeff. It did not seem to bother the other workers who continued to burn down the trees, stepping forwards to torch the next line.

Head Logging Supervisor Matt approached Jeff, who was still standing by the table of wood.

“Take a damn device and get to work Jeff!” Head Logging Supervisor Matt ordered. “What are you doing?”

Jeff continued to stare into the blazing forest, speechless. Head Logging Supervisor Matt threw a fire-spitted into Jeff’s hands, but he dropped it. The device malfunctioned and misfired, and the grass around their feet lit aflame. Jeff did not move; only continue to stare at the burning trees. The fire climbed up his body, and he was burning, yet still did not move, only stare. The flame reached his face, charring his eyes and all went dark.

Jeff woke with a start and sat up in bed. “A dream,” he thought. “Maybe I should think this through a bit more.”

He sleepily climbed out of bed, patting his mouth as he yawned. He could smell bacon. His wife was fixing him a big breakfast to celebrate the new job he was starting that morning: Machine Technician at a local logging camp. “Man, will she be mad when I tell her.”

Author Note: I’m not much of an environmentalist in truth but it seems to be a theme I include in a lot of my stories. At the least, Head Logging Supervisor Matt should try to make a profit making the trees into paper for art! But it’s a dream, does not need to make sense.

 I wrote this pretty quickly and may go back and touch it up here and there.