Tamji
Project Lieutenant
Posts: 16
(4/24/04 9:17 pm)
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The Ruby Pebble- Texas
I wonder what it'd be like to live in a big city like Chicago or Paragon City. All those fancy people and their fancy parties, drinking their beer from a glass instead of a bottle. I bet it's not 100 degrees in the shade there. It must be wonderful.
"If your done woolgatherin' girl I could use some pipe over ch'ere."
Shawna colored momentarily, realizing she had been caught off guard. She hated being surprised almost as much as the short jokes. "Just hold on to your horses you old coot, I'm comin'." Shouldering a length of pipe she started what seemed the millionth trek to the rig this morning. Roughnecking might not be the most glamorous job in the world, but it was a job. Besides it's all she new. Growing up in a house with a father and three brothers, all oil workers, it's not as if she had alot of options. She didn't remember her mama, not really. A faded image, a whisper of a memory, that was about it.
"Quit takin' baby steps Pebbles, we're 25 feet off pocket."
"One more short joke Earl and I 'll shove this pipe in your..." The rest was lost in the laughter as the crew exploded. They knew she was sensitive about her height. Most knew because they had at one time or other called her "shorty" or the like. The end result usually being a fat lip...and not usually hers. When you're the only girl among brothers you learn to hold your own. The only one safe putting the words "little" and "Pebbles" together in the same sentence was her father. "My little Pebbles" he called her after the Flintstones cartoon. With the red hair and rather stumpy height it was probably inevitable.
Dropping the pipe at the base she took a second to wipe the sweat and grime off her forehead. "Your pipe your majesty" she said with a mocking half bow "May it be as good for you as it was for me.” Chuckles sounded all around as the crew went about refitting the pipe. Roughnecks were a tight bunch, but once they had accepted you, you were blood. Just one of the guys. How fitting.
What was that? her brain screamed at her. That slight tremble in the ground. “Hey Earl, I thought you said we were still 25 foot off pocket?” She looked around the landscape to see if it might have been a vehicle drive by. “We are darlin’. Geologist said 1565 feet and we’re at..” after a quick “...1538. He wouldn’t be THAT far off, besides, we ain’t hit the gas cap yet.”
There it was again. “Damn it Earl, tell ‘em to stop the chains, somethin’ ain’t right.” She began to look around franticly. She had been on alot of drill sites, most of her life really, and this just felt...wrong. “Pebbles, I don’t tell you your job so don’t be tellin’ me mi....”
The ground exploded under the hole blasting rocks, wood, and steel into the sky. Then the earth spewed forth.
“Blowout! We got Blowout!”
“BLOWOUT! BLOWOUT! BLOWOUT!
(to be continued)
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