Monday 30 August 2010

A Plumber’s Tales #2


Paul was fitting a central heating system in an old wooden-framed building and needed to lay pipes under the floor. He decided against taking up the floorboards, opting instead to create a trap-door into the cavity below. With his safety helmet and head torch in place he lowered himself through the hatch and proceeded to make his way through the dark and dirty space. 
He was on his back so that he could tap supports for the pipes onto the underside of the flooring. He became aware of a crunching under his body and looked to see piles of empty snail shells. As he was pondering how they came to be there in such incalculable numbers he heard a loud hiss and was exceedingly alarmed to see a badger far too close for comfort. Badgers, particularly in confined spaces, can be extremely aggressive and Paul removed himself as quickly as he could from that potentially very unpleasant situation, leaving his helmet and head torch behind.

So Paul finally had to lift the floorboards to finish the job. The helmet and head torch remain below the floor. What will archaeologists make of them in centuries to come?

2 comments:

  1. Haha, I bet the inventors of the safety helmet and the head-torch will have never thought of their potential to be used as a badger distraction device. See! Always wear a safety helmet.

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  2. Good question, Janice! :) I often wonder if today's archeologist have gotten it right about the past as well. I enjoyed your story!

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