Swallet
When their Geography class was over, Waylen stopped Megan in the hallway. “Do you wanna check the ground crack in the ball field?” he asked.
Last month, they discovered a considerable crack in a corner of one of ball fields when they tried to retrieve a baseball. They had just had a lecture from a visiting cultural historian from the Dock-Side in Red Hook. He told the class that almost the entire Red Hook community was built on marshland and landfills. Once they heard this, Megan knew that Waylen would relate this to their ballfield finding because Waylen was that guy who was always curious about anything mysterious.
Figure 1. Almost the entire Red Hook communicty was built on marshland and landfills. Reference [1].
Figure 2. Veronica beccabunga, a European plant thrived across marshland in Red Hook. Reference [2].
“We can use this as a group project and get credit for geography class,” says Waylen, trying to persuade Megan.
“Fine, just don’t try to scare me again,” Megan agreed, but only because she needed the extra credit to get the A she wanted. They left school and headed up to the ball fields.
Built in 1935 on the old site of the “Tin City,” the Red Hook Ball Fields have become a major recreational area in South Brooklyn. Food trucks continuously gather at the fields to provide the most authentic Central and South American street food in New York City.
Figure 3. Red Hook in 1930s. Reference [3].
Figure 4. Red Hook Recreation Area: birds eye view, 1935. Reference [4].
Figure 5. Birds-eye view of Red Hook in 2016. Reference [5].
A couple of Hispanic families were playing soccer in the field. Waylen and Megan sidestepped them and made their ways toward the spot where they lost their baseball.
Figure 6. Red Hook Ball Fields Food Trucks. Reference [6].
“There you go!” Waylen cried as he pushed away the grass. He pointed at the cleft in the ground. The ball was still down there, but the opening seemed much wider than it was last month, and leachate had come up and submerged half of the ball.
Figure 7. The ball in the groundwater, Ruixuan Li, 2019.
All of a sudden, a figure swiftly slid through the murk in front of Waylen’s eyes, making him jump. Collecting himself, Waylen looked into the crack, and to Waylen’s astonishment, he saw a jelly-like, greasy figure under the rocks, its light plum, gray, and magenta striped body sticking out in the dark cavity. A thin layer of scales on the body shone in the sun as the creature moved and revolved.
“Ah!!” Waylen cried, too scared to really scream, and pulled back from the rift. He had no idea what the thing was, but by the way he could feel its whirling movements underneath him, he was sure it was something big.
Figure 8. A figure in the dark cavity, Ruixuan Li, 2019.
“Are you OK?” Megan cried as she ran to help Waylen. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she asked, “What happened? What did you see?” Waylen didn’t reply. Instead, He stood and pushed Megan behind him, shielding her. He looked down into the crack and saw that both the ball and the creature were gone. The only sign there was anything ever there were the ripples on the surface of the groundwater.
Figure 9. Ripples on the surface of the groundwater, Ruixuan Li, 2019.