Tom Simpson - Sink

“Hello Wikowski here.” She had clearly directed into the phone. “What can I do for you?”

“Wendy. This is Marcia. I’m over at that new resort and the shit has hit the fan.” She recalled hearing her best friend’s frantic voice. “Ted Brumfield and I were over by the lagoon and Ted was getting some really good footage of the fantastic waterfall for my Monday night show when the whole resort collapsed. There are hundreds of people tapped in this gigantic sinkhole and the rescue teams aren’t even here yet. I know this is your type of story, so get over and you scoop all the other stations. This will definitely go national and CNN will be here before

you know it. How close are you anyway?” her friend had asked.

Wendy had replied in an excited voice, “Marcia, I’m almost to Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area to do the follow up on that body they found yesterday but, this sounds much bigger. I’ll catch highway 98 right past the Swamp and I can be there in less than twenty minutes. Are you and Ted all right? You’re not too close to the sink are you?”

Marcia Meadows had replied quickly to her questions. “We’re fine Wendy but, we are going a lot closer, to see if we can help. It is utter chaos over here because nobody seems to be in charge. I heard from a lifeguard that we ran into when we ran back toward to lake that he had gotten hold of the sheriff in Forest Glenn and they were going to send out the National Guard. I just hope they make it in time before these holes get any bigger. Hurry up and we’ll see you when you get here. Now take care.” She had warned her.

Paul Zangallio, Marcia Meadows, and the cameraman Ted Brumfield were walking along the edge of the lake approaching where the marina office had stood when Paul stopped at the edge of the newly formed hole and peered intently down into the gloom. All three noticed the lake began pouring into the hole and Paul wondered what happened to Otis. Marcia Meadows saw the quizzical look on Paul’s face and remarked.

“What seems to be the trouble? You don’t think anyone is down there do you?”

“I don’t know.” Paul replied in a shaky voice. “I just know that Otis who runs the marina, was in the office less than one hour ago and frankly I’m worried that he’s still in there somewhere.”

“No offense kid.” Stated Ted Brumfield. “But I don’t see how anyone could have lived through the collapse of that building. It is literally torn in half.”

“Well, all I know is, that is the last place I saw Otis and he is a tough old bird. If anyone could survive a crash like that it, would be Otis.”

“Can you see anything?” Offered Marcia. “It sure looks dark down there.”

“I think I see his legs. The beer cooler is laying on its side but it looks like there is a pair of shoes sticking out from under them but, it is filling up with water so fast I can hardly tell. Hey Otis. Are you down there?”

“Is that you Paul?” Came a very weak voice from down in the hole. “I’m trapped down here and the water is getting ready to cover me over. I can’t move my legs so I guess it’s time to say goodbye. I love you boy and your girlfriend Becky. May God be with you?”

“Don’t give up Otis. We’ll get you out of there. Just give us a couple of minutes.”

“Listen son.” The voice a lot weaker now. “The water is up to my chin. Don’t waste your time on an old man like me. Go save someone who hasn’t lived their life yet. Just say goodbye to Bart for me and you and Becky take care of him for me. He likes you two a lot.”

“Don’t be silly Otis. We’ll get you out of there.” The unsure ness was very apparent in Paul’s voice but he wanted to be brave for Otis. “We’ll have help in a moment. Ok?”

There was no reply from the hole and Paul Zangallio’s eyes began to well up with tears.

Becky ran up to Paul at that moment and shakily asked.

“Otis is trapped down there isn’t he? Oh what can we do? We have to save him. We just have to.”

As Paul looked into Becky’s eye with a look of total sorrow, Mark Summers came running up with an extension ladder in his hands.

“I saw you guys looking down in that hole. I figured Otis might be in trouble and Mike is putting the other ladder in the place where the lobby was so, I thought you might could use this ladder over here.”

“I turned on the pumps to lower the lake level, Mark. I just hope it was in time but, we can’t hear anything from Otis now.” Becky volunteered.

“Come on Paul. Let’s go down there and see if we can help him. You also, if you will.” Mark gestured to Ted Brumfield.

“Sure anything I can do to help.” Replied Ted Brumfield as he helped Mark Summers lower the ladder down into the hole.

The ladder wasn’t all the way in place when Paul Zangallio started climbing down. He reached the bottom of the ladder and he was knee deep in warm lake water. He started sloshing his way toward the back of the hole and heard the other two starting to splash behind him. All three reached the edge of the fallen down beer cooler but couldn’t see Otis because the water level was almost half way up the cooler. Paul waded around the top side of the cooler and bumped into something under the water. He reached carefully down into the murky water which had finally stabilized in height and found Otis’s head. Slowly lifting his face clear of the water he bent down and pressed his lips against the old man’s and tried to breathe life back in the cold compressed lips like he had learned in his CPR training as a lifeguard. He got no response from Otis but, continued even though he felt totally useless. In the meantime, Mike and Ted managed to shift the heavy beer cooler off the prone body of the old man with the help of the buoyant water. Paul was sobbing to himself. “Come on God dammit breathe. You can’t quit now.”

A gagging, coughing sound all of a sudden emerged from Otis mouth and he opened his eyes and looked up at Paul.

“What’s the matter boy? You didn’t think they could kill an old goat like me did you?”

The tears that came to Paul’s eyes were now tears of joy and he yelled up out of the hole.

“Hey Becky. Otis is all right now. He’s going to be just fine.”

The small group began wading through the water cradling Otis between them and they managed to half drag, half carry him up the ladder to the smiles of the two females waiting on the surface.

Paul Zangallio and Becky McClellan ran back to where the lobby used to be after being reassured by the reporter Marcia Meadows and the cameraman Ted Brumfield that they would take care of Otis until an ambulance arrived. They arrived back at the hole in time for Steve Sidel to yell up from the fallen roof of the lobby if anyone knew where any flashlights were. Mark Summers, had brought back the other ladder and he and his brother Mike were helping transport people up the two ladders leaning into the hole. The two men, Kevin Backlin and Bill Forman built a ramp from the boards Beverly Forham and Connie Littlefield carried from behind the maintenance shed and were sliding the ramp into the crevice where the roof had split.

Steve Sidel told Wendy Wikowski to untie one of the ropes that was around the closest royal palm tree and after she threw it down into the hole Steve tied it to the base of one of the ladders and dropped the end into the split roof opening. Several people were able to shimmy up the rope and those were the ones the twins were helping climb out but, no one else apparently were uninjured enough to make it up the rope and Steve Sidel decided to climb down into the crevice to see whom he could help out