THE PIPE

THE PIPE

 

 

This is the story of a poor town in the wastelands of Alabama. It is also the story of Helen Witten. She was a single mom who raised seven kids on her own. She didn’t make ends meet by working in a chicken processing plant nearby; twelve-hour shift, six days a week. The kids pretty much took care of themselves. But the town was small and neighbors helped out neighbors. The only thing was, there was no toilet in their house, nor in any of the houses in her neighborhood.

 

So, Helen rigged up a straight pipe that went right into the stream which was part of their drinking water. Helen, and most of her neighbors did this, because the town wouldn’t pay to install a sewage system. And for Helen to purchase one would cost $15,000. Consequently, people in the town got sick. The doctor who lived outside town where those folks had a sewage system, said hook worm was a problem, as was stunted child development. But these townspeople had no money, no choice. All of them believed that the town should have paid for the sewage system, but thus far nothing had come to fruition.

 

Until one day. A middle age biker came riding through town on his travels. He was taking the back roads and stumbled upon Bacon, Alabama. He drove slowly as he looked carefully at the poverty of this neighborhood. And, to his surprise he noticed Helen sitting on her stoop. They chatted for a while. One could see Helen’s face becoming angry.

 

Helen didn’t think much of their conversation, so she lived like she always did.

 

On a bright spring day, a man in a red convertible drove by the neighborhood. He had been told about the sewage problem. He knocked on her door. In a split second, the man handed her a check for an undetermined amount of money.

 

Helen ran through the neighborhood like a little girl with an ice cream cone and a balloon

Screaming “We got it, we got it!”

 

THE END

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

based on reality!

Reviews

[M. J. Smith]

Too few today know or care about their fellow man. Jacob Marley stated that Mankind should have been his business. I wonder how long the the chains on our wealthy men are today? Sorry. Left over Christmas thoughts. Well written, food for thought.

[Betty Hermelee]

and too few care about poverty, so prevalent in our own country... Thank you for your review.
Best, Betty

[M. J. Smith]

I am no stranger to poverty. "Gold and silver have I none. But such as I have give I freely." Saint Peter, The Book of Acts.

[Suzanne Sonderleigh]

Who was the biker and what made Helen so angry when she talked with him? Then, a man shows up in a red convertible and hands her a check? Who was he and how did he know to give the money to Helen? He was probably right to do so because the town may have used it for something else. I would love to know more about those two people! We don’t think that people could live like that in America.

[Betty Hermelee]

Thank you for stopping by and reviewing my flash fiction...which is based on true facts... The biker could have spread the word and that's how the rich man got there....but there are multiple thousands of poverty stricken families who still straight pipe into streams ...especially in the remote areas of certain states.
Best, Betty

[Suzanne Sonderleigh]

Goodness. We don’t know how good we have it until we hear these stories. I’m glad to hear the man stopped and helped.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

An interesting story but I had little sympathy for the characters. I've never heard of anyone putting raw sewage into a clean stream. Why would anyone do anything so stupid? I was raised in poverty with no running water. We had a well drilled when I was 9 or ten. Before that we carried all our water from a spring that was at the headwaters of a creek about a quarter mile from our house. We dug a new outhouse hole every year, 6 feet deep by five feet long by three feet wide into soft rock and then covered the old one with dirt and stones from our gardens. Then we simply rocked the outhouse and "walked" it over to its new hole. Then you chink in the holes around the foundation and you're set. Not taking care of your water supply and being unsanitary with your refuse is beyond poverty, it's stupidity. Even an animal doesn't crap where it intends to sleep. It sounds more like these folks were too lazy or too ignorant (maybe both) not to take the same precaution. But "poor" doesn't translate into "stupid". I've seen many a person living on next to nothing with plenty of good sense and ingenious mechanisms to make life easier. Just an observation.

[Betty Hermelee]

Thanks for the review Fabian, but I beg to differ… this story is based on true events, even today! And in my neck of the wood, people straighten piped into streams until recently , that is in the back woods of NC…. So not everybody has the ingenuity or know how to do complicated work; that being said, this woman was a single mom with many kids to raise and worked 6 days a week at the graveyard shift….give her a break….they were dirt poor and so was The whole neighborhood.
Best, B. Happy holidays!.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

There were 8 kids in my family. Two died or it would have been ten. We ALL worked. When there was school we did chores before and after. When there wasn't school we worked from sunrise to sunset, planting and tending gardens, working on our house, cutting grass and weeds, sawing down trees, cutting firewood with a cross-saw, a splitting maul, axes and hatchets. We could all hammer nails, lay shingles and paint by the time we were six. I understand 12 hour shifts. I used to work them four and five days a week at a sawmill. There's still the week-end to get things done at home. And those kids should have been pulling their weight to help their mother. Nope. No breaks from me. I have no sympathy for those unwilling to better their situation and since I lived such a life I think my insight into the necessities of survival apply equally to all. People can be "respectable" and poor but it requires human dignity and an effort more than just going to work every day. I fail to see any dignity in dumping sewage into clean water. We valued our water too much to ever do such a thing, we worked too hard to get that clean water. And building an outhouse or digging a hole isn't "complicated". It just requires some planks, nails, a shovel and some elbow grease. The "whole neighborhood" sounds positively horrid. The native Americans the settlers called "savages" were never book taught but they were evidently far superior in intellect to the folks in your story. Those same "savages" had no "money" but they still managed not to soil their water. There's no excuse or explanation for stupidity. Poverty doesn't excuse it nor lack of education nor hours spent at work. Education might relieve ignorance but you can't fix stupid and dumping crap in your water supply is as stupid as it gets.

[Betty Hermelee]

There is no dignity in dumping sewage....I'm so sorry for your past life Fabian...it must have been really tough... glad you survived and became a great poet!!! Happy holidays! B

[Fabian G. Franklin]

It wasn't a hardship really. It was just life. We didn't know any other. Most of us survived. But so far, this season, my sister who has MS and cancer fell through a second story floor at a house she was visiting; broke seven ribs, her coccyx bone, a wrist, a hip and both her hands. She has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Our family Christmas gathering was to be at her husband's church. He is a minister. So, obviously, that was canceled. My best friend's husband passed away from brain cancer last night and today my niece was in a car crash that left her in critical but stable condition. She was airlifted out to a hospital in Ashville this afternoon with a damaged liver, broken breastbone and cuts with embedded glass they'll have to remove. I just finished a battery of X-rays to determine why my shoulder isn't healing from scapula thoracic bursitis. But if the x-rays are okay my doctor says he can give me a shot to help with the pain and inflammation. My doctor is very young...in his mid thirties. His office called to cancel my appointment because he had a cardiac event. They had to stop his heart and restart it today. But he gave me an online visit and ordered my x-rays for me. He's a good man. So I'm between praying for everyone and having an emotional breakdown. I 'm trying to find some holiday happiness but life isn't making it easy. But I thank you for your wishes and wish you all the happiness and joy your heart can contain this season. Merry Christmas.

[Betty Hermelee]

And you as well!😊🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

[Samuel Dickens]

This is a sweet story with a great ending. As a kid, I decided to see what was upstream from our favorite swimming hole, and had traveled less than a mile when I saw the sewage pipes draining into the creek. (It didn't stop us from swimming in it) I can relate to Helen, too, for having bad tasting, unclean water to drink and bath in. Life ain't easy for po folks, so a little help is always appreciated. Hey... that looks like my first girlfriend's house!

[Betty Hermelee]

Thanks foe the review Sam, those poor folks have it rough! Happy holidays!
Best
B.