Something Stinks!

Something Stinks! — page 7 — Gail E Hedrick You’ll see it’s the worst one yet Aunt Sylvie beck oned Come on We followed her around the house past tidy ﬂower beds ﬁlled with late-summer daylilies and mums and down the grass-covered hill toward the Higdon River Dead ﬁsh with their bodies bloated and eyes bulging lay scattered everywhere Catﬁsh perch bluegills and bass were strewn along the bank and in the water Some bobbed silently un der the wooden dock Gosh Aunt Sylvie I said choking How many are there Hundreds said Uncle Joe coming up the riverbank carrying a shovel He wiped his forehead with a red ban danna I’m trying to bury em to keep the smell down here Aunt Sylvie bit her lip We don’t know but it’s hap pened before I think the last time was early in the summer right after y’all left We’d just returned home to Southwest Virginia from spending the entire summer over in Tennessee It wasn’t the way I would have picked to spend my time before start ing seventh grade but no one asked me My dad’s a project manager for a regional utility company and since he’d had to go he was sure my mom little brother and I would love to tag along I didn’t get to sleep in my own bed for months Mommy stinky ﬁsh said Ben wrinkling his nose I know said Mom nodding What’s going on 2

Something Stinks! — page 8 — Something Stinks had to spend endless hours of quality time with a three year-old and constantly wondered what my friends were doing back home Now this What would kill so many ﬁsh in this perfect little river Aunt Sylvie patted Ben on the head and went on We reported that ﬁrst one to the county back then but nobody seemed too concerned Later we heard someone in the of ﬁce had accidentally deleted the call log for that day Uncle Joe grumbled We called again yesterday when we started seeing a few dead ones here and there This time some inspector came out and tromped all around He glanced at the water but didn’t test it He said every one always wants to blame the big companies upstream for these sorts of things but the factories have state regula tions they have to follow Unlike the farmers He jammed the shovel into the squishy red clay That was when the guy seemed to turn on me asking what kind of pesticides I used I told him we’re organic growers I use soap and water and nothing else He laughed and said it must be some kind of potent suds to get this result That’s when I showed him the door to do about it Uncle Joe shook his head They just sent us a status report stamped Incident submitted necessity for further action inconclusive He sounds like a jerk I said What are they going What does that mean I asked 3

Something Stinks! — page 9 — Gail E Hedrick Uncle Joe chuckled Your husband doesn’t need to It means he’s not going to do anything Case Mom said That’s ridiculous It is Uncle Joe agreed But it appears we’re on closed our own so we’ll deal with it Mom surveyed the scene Listen I have to get to the pharmacy before it closes How about I have John come out to help you clean up lose a day’s pay to bury ﬁsh We’ll be ﬁne said Aunt Sylvie pulling her apron strings tight around her waist I’ll be out here in a few min utes with my barn boots on and my own shovel I looked at the bodies clumping against my uncle’s little ﬁshing boat and bobbing ashore pushed by the river currents The creepy combination of the smell and sight of these ﬁsh made me want to run away and never come back I glanced at my sweet aunt and uncle Their shoul ders sagged with either defeat or exhaustion I didn’t know which It was awful to see them like this I sighed Mom you take Ben and leave me here to help isn’t that huge so we can go after you come back What about Leanne What about getting your school supplies We can go after you get Ben’s medicine My list Okay plan the rest of my day said Mom grinning 4

Something Stinks! — page 10 — Something Stinks Everyone looks gigantic to you Aunt Sylvie I’m My best friend and I had shopped together for school supplies forever Oh shoot I’ll need to let her know but I bet she won’t mind going later When I tell her what the problem is she’ll understand She loves it out here too Oh you dear child said Aunt Sylvie giving me a hug Then she peered up at me When did you get so tall still right at 5’5 Well maybe it’s that new short hairdo It shows off your natural curl Now I need to ﬁnd you some gloves and a rake Jenny bring little Ben and on your way to the car I’ll get you some cider to take along for later I wished it was later and all this mess was already bagged up As the others walked away I turned toward the river and Uncle Joe but all I could see were the ﬁsh Their eyes were getting to me and the usually crisp air out here seemed as rotten as the inside of a sewer This is so sad My favorite place in the whole world is a graveyard How could something like this happen Why can’t something great ever stay that way Well it’s looking like we might never know said Uncle Joe Hopefully it won’t be like this the next time you’re here By the way what did you say about your side kick Leanne to the house to use the phone Oh I’ve gotta call her I guess I should’ve gone up 5

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