SteemUSA Writing Challenge Thursday - - - "Waiting for Tomorrow"

Waiting for Tomorrow

          “What's wrong gram-pa”? Donald asked as I was reminiscing about the Blue Heron. I cleared my eyes and looked from my album down at Donald. Here son come sit by me and I will share a piece of the past with you.

          Here is a picture of a Little Blue Heron, we used to have so many visit our little lake in the past, but no more:

^{Source: Thursday Writing Challenge hosted by SteemUSA}

          It loved the edges of the lake in the reeds. It would build nest and raise their young. I remember as a lad your age just sitting on the lawn and listening to them and watching them walk around poking in the water for little fish.

          “What Happened to them gram-pa, did they really eat stuff out of our lake? Gram-ma is always reminding me not to get to close to it. She really don’t need to do that it smells so bad by the water.” Donald said.

          They told us long ago how safe the pipeline would be how it would not leak and that they had measures in effect to check it all the time. It would be the safest pipeline ever built they said. We believed them, we wanted and need the jobs it would bring to our town. And it was safe for 15 years nothing happened. Then one day people started to notice the water was having an oily sheen on top of it, the press and the oil company said it was from a barge leak. We believed them, they would not lie to use we reasoned.

          It did not take long Donald and we all knew the truth the pipeline was leaking it had been leaking for years, and nothing was done about it. The leak had started a little bit back from the lake, and the oil was seeping into the ground and slowly working its way toward the lake. After the truth was out due to the cost of the clean up and all the political ramifications, the government declared it a Superfund Site clean up project.

          That was 40 years ago now Donald, and like all Superfund sites, there is just not enough money or manpower to do the clean up. So they let the lake die and the birds die, and the fish die. They have channeled the lake outlet into a clean-up pool, but that has not helped much, the leak continues to spread down stream, and now in to the ground water reservoir.

          So your Grandma and I stay and watch, hoping against hope that one day the Little Blue Heron will return.

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My entry into: Thursday Writing Challenge hosted by SteemUSA - #steemusawrite
Word count for story minus html codes 436.