The house vibrated and uttered a human-like groan. A sound like static built into a cacophony around the house. Lance rolled to his stomach and, with Mary’s help, pushed himself to his feet.
The face of the house was almost level now, and Lance could see more and more of the bay surrounding them. The waves continued to crash against the rock and soil, and as he watched, chunks of land the size of pickup trucks crumbled into the water. The house shifted again and nearly sent both he and Mary back to their knees. Lance grasped Mary’s hand and looked into her eyes. It was impossible to tell the rain from tears.
“We have to jump,” Lance said, as he led her to the house’s foundation. They peered over the edge together and he felt her fingers clamp down over his.
The four vehicles sat twenty feet below them on soaking ground that was fractured with fault lines. The house itself had sunk into the soil as it tipped, but the drop still looked as if it could easily snap an ankle or vaporize a knee upon impact.
“Oh God, I don’t know if I can,” Mary said, wavering on the foundation’s stonework.
“We have to. This whole place is going to be gone in a minute or two.”
Mary’s frightened eyes flickered toward him and then back down to the awaiting ground.
“Did I ever tell you I’m afraid of heights?” she asked.
Lance blinked, and then barked out laughter. He turned toward her and saw a frightened smile on her lips.
The house began to move beneath their feet, the gap between the edge and the ground widening. Lance’s heart pounded and his legs nearly unhinged, but he managed one last look in Mary’s direction before he jumped, pulling her with him.
The ground ran up to meet them, and a shock wave that sent icy nails of pain through his body greeted Lance’s feet. His breath rushed out of him, and he was rolling over. His right shoulder struck wet gravel, and then the blustering clouds were above him once again. A sharp crack resounded louder than the constant thunder, and he raised his head just off the ground.
The house’s substructure was toppling out of sight. It hung on the cusp of the newly formed cliff, like a gargantuan beetle ready to trundle down a hill, and then it was picking up speed and falling away. The last fringe of the house disappeared and an enormous splash issued from the other side of the drop. Lance stared at the place where it had been, in awe. The crescent of ground gaped like an exposed jaw, and he wondered if they should move farther away from the edge when he felt a hand pull at his arm. He rolled toward it, still trying to reclaim the air that had been expelled from his lungs.
Mary lay next to him in the mud, her eyes luminous in the afternoon that was gradually becoming an early dusk. He felt a pleasant numbness spreading throughout his body, and smiled at her pretty face. A dark line formed on the upper edge of his sight and he saw Mary begin to yank on an arm that he could no longer feel. She was yelling something, but her voice was soft in his ears. Soft like the ground he lay upon. The rain was warm, and it was finally time to sleep.
The line in his vision dropped lower, making the wind, the rain, and the woman before him no more.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Christopher Porter, Duluth Explorer
The events that took place nearly a week ago in the small town of Stony Bay, north of Duluth/Superior, have finally been brought to light.