Train Tunnel
To build the Grand Coulee Dam, a railroad line was built to carry materials and equipment. At the edge of town, across Fiddle Creek, a tunnel for that train remains unused from that time to today due to a faulty trestle. The tunnel is fenced off because it is unsafe [rocks fall]. But years ago, the kids from the local school just down the hill would skip class and hide in this tunnel. When my grandkids were growing up, a hike to this tunnel was always part of our fun, but we called the tunnel the “bat cave” because inside the tunnel many local bats live, waiting for the evening flight for their meals of insects.
Fiddle Creek Bridge
To reach the bat cave / train tunnel, a path just off city hall opens up to a small bridge across Fiddle Creek.
This little bridge is falling apart due to nature taking over. Today’s #writeout prompt asks us to “Write a story in which a city block or urban center has been retaken by nature over time.
What does that place look like?” This is my story– a look at the walk in our town, open to all. As you can see, the bridge is falling, decomposing, drying out. But that does not prevent us from still crossing over that large board and on up the hill to the tunnel / bat cave.
Even if you choose not to cross and climb to the tunnel, the place is magical in its view and sounds:
What place in your community could be a story– either a documentation like this one or a story, perhaps with fairies floating on the leaves in the creek?
Thanks again to the National Park Service and National Writing Project for the inspirational prompt to write this through their October Write Out program.