[ WP ] And then one day.. there was a hole there ...

Life was much more simple last week. My brother worked his shift in the mines, along with my father and the rest of the town men old enough to handle a pick. My mother was preparing dinner as the mines had let out early to celebrate the holiday. It was Tor-Hanna; the day we were freed from our captors. Before my grandfather's grandfather had been born a war was waged in which the beings of the light defeated those of the miasma. Or so we are all told; none are alive from that time. 
 
 I had just returned from fishing the small stream that ran south of the town when the ground shook slightly. This was n't uncommon as the ground tended to `` bump'' to release pressure from the massive mine that had been carved beneath the surface. As I continued home it got worse and there was a massive explosion. Mine collapses happened... but this was far bigger than the one that killed my grandfather and my uncle. I knew my family would be safe because their shifts would already have ended. 
 
 A cloud of dark red smoke began to billow into the sky. The thick smell of sulfur overtook me as I gagged and ran towards the mayhem. My house was destroyed. The wall facing the catastrophe was gone, my mother lay under the table unconscious, and my brother was staggering down what was left of the stairwell. He had a large piece of debris sticking out of his thigh and coverall was matted thick with blood. My father had lost his left hand below the elbow. He'd already tied a tight tourniquet around the wound and was trying desperately to dig my mother out. After a few seconds it became apparent that she was n't alive; her neck had been crushed by debris from the collapsing wall. I had thought wrong. 
 
 In the days that followed the hole opened up and swallowed more and more of the town. It was obvious that the area was much larger than even the massive mine. It was deep, maybe half a mile or better. On the dawn of the third day the vortex appeared. It was small at first, but then things began to emerge from it. Dark shadows that scaled the steep walls in seconds and began to disperse throughout the town. People went missing in the following hours, and more and more strange things began to appear. 
 
 A creature the size of a horse with six legs and a caprice as hard as stone killed the town police chief before nightfall. I watched helplessly as he shot it point blank with a powerful shotgun only for it to grab him with it's claws and tear him to pieces. It wandered towards the hole and I had n't seen it since. 
 
 That was last week. Today we dropped a large rock down the hole. It landed directly in the vortex and disappeared. We lowered another down with a long rope and were able to pull it back after a few minutes. It seemed no worse for the wear. Tomorrow they plan on sending my brother down to pass through. He volunteered to make the trip and no one dissented. 
 
 Except for me. His leg is still wounded to the point that he ca n't walk without a limp. He has at least two or three broken ribs judging by the thick purple and yellow bruises covering his chest, and he's at least temporarily deaf in one ear. 
 
 So, tonight, I've tying the edge of a two mile long cord from the mine elevator to the sturdiest structure I could find in town. The remainder I looped around a thick oak that was longer than a man is tall. I'm at the bottom and..I'm going to go through. If I do n't return. Please do n't send help. I made this decision on my own. If I do return. I'll do my best not to bring anything else back with me. May the light help us. 
 
 \- Edward Fanstin - February 29th, 2432
