Tina
yawned. The morning air was chilly and
bit at her outstretched fingers. She sat
upright in her bed. The March sky was a
bright, sunny blue. She could hear birds
singing over the emergency siren. She
rushed to her television. Tina knew
about Three Mile Island when she had moved to Harrisburg, but she never thought that this
day would come. Men in suits assured her
through her television set that everything was all right, and there was nothing
to fear. The men stood in rigid
serenity, looking earnest in their attempts to placate the populace. Their message was drowned by the blaring
evacuation sirens and the frenetic panic of the bustling metropolis, everyone
scurrying to safer ground. The previous
day, there had been an announcement to evacuate little children and pregnant
women. Though she was neither, Tina sat
in front of the glowing television, suitcases packed, ready to leave the only
home she ever loved.
Men
in respirators swarmed around the blinking walls of machinery. They mumbled with gas mask lisps into phones
connected to the highest levels of government.
Trying to make sense of what had happened, each person went through the
incident in their heads. It had started
as a minor problem. A pipe used to
deliver cool water to the scalding surfaces of the inner nuclear core had
malfunctioned. Error messages prompted
scientists in the control room to shut down the water coolant process. This fateful decision changed the course of
history. If the water pumps were left
alone, the plant would have saved itself with its backup water cooling
system. However, the scientists had now
set into motion the worst nuclear incident in American history.
Tina listened
intently to the news. For years she had
seen those steam stacks on the horizon. She moved to Harrisburg after college to live with her
fiancé, Steve. They had the perfect life
in Pennsylvania. Steve was a military man and had graduated
near the top of his class at VMI. As
soon as he was eligible, he volunteered for service in Vietnam. On April 29th, 1975, the very day
before the end of the war, Steve was killed in hostilities over an airbase in Saigon.
The television
blared in front of her eyes. Above the
rabbit ears hung the triangular folded flag given to Tina upon Steve’s death. It was four years ago, but she still held a
heavy heart when she looked at that flag.
She held it and one suitcase with all her clothes as she walked out the
door.
She
talked to her neighbors as they casually sauntered out of their homes. Emergency shelters were filling to the brim
on the outskirts of town. Tina knew the
hundred mile radius around the plant would be uninhabitable for hundreds of
years if the plant melted down, but she could not bear to leave. Harrisburg
was her home. And there was no where
else to go. She waited for the worst,
huddled in terror with the same friends she used to grocery shop with.
Three Mile Island did, in fact, melt down. However, the effects of it were contained
within the core itself. If the plant had
exploded, as many expected it would, the entirety of Pennsylvania would have been tainted by
radiation. The entire country breathed a
sigh of relief when the crisis was over.
But, the backlash against nuclear power had begun, as had concerted
efforts to improve nuclear facility safety.
Tina
yawned. The March sky over Harrisburg was not
polluted with thick, radioactive smog.
She sniffed the spring air and embraced her newly found respect for
life. She smiled as the birds sang
quietly to no one.
This work written by Zach Claywell. Reproduction requests or general questions should be directed to Zach Claywell care of Zach Claywell at yahoo dot com.