Falling Time

       The skidder rammed against a tree, the rubber tire bouncing like a huge beach ball against the ungiving wood, the machine ricocheting through the air and flipping upside down into a murky swamp ten feet below.
    "Oh Shit! Shit!" Sam screamed as his fingers tangled through his hair and pulled. He looked past the skidder to the edge of the swamp and saw Mokoyo sitting passively in a customary squat. Sam looked quickly back at his equipment as a bubble of black diesel smoke escaped from underneath the machine and belched to the surface. "You pygmy asshole! That machine came thousands of miles..." As he thought about his need for the machine the reality hit him at what he was losing. His voice dropped to a whimper. "I need that machine."
    He stood quietly, staring off into space when he was startled back to the situation at hand by something pushing against his back. He tripped forward as something shoved him aside. Onga. The huge elephant moved past him into the swamp. Sam's stomach heaved and he bent over, sure he was going to throw up but after gaping his mouth open for a few seconds he closed it. "And you, you God damned thing. I never know when you're going to come fucking around here." Sam's fists came up and he held them toward the beast. "I don't care if you kill me. You big bastard."
     Onga stopped six feet from the partially submerged machine and stood flapping his ears. Nabu and Kem appeared, like always, from nowhere.
    The three pygmies stood while Mokoyo jabbered something and then they all three laughed loudly. Mokoyo's arm went in every direction, jerking forward, jerking back, his feet adding to the mime, his body jumping from side to side in his excitement.
    Sam's lips curled back over his teeth and his eyebrows furrowed together as the man pantomimed. "You stupid little shit," Sam said, watching, his teeth clenched. "You have no idea what we've lost here."
    After their laughter had died down, they looked in the direction of the skidder and at Onga. They didn't look at Sam. Onga was positioned on a huge hardwood that lay just underneath the brewing water. Sam wiped the sweat from his forehead in a feeble attempt at trying to think, his leg lifting to rest on a stump. He felt his insides fold down into a clump as the machine ebbed still deeper into the putrid confines. His thinking was suddenly jarred by the actions of the pygmy crew. Mokoyo and Kem had gone off into the woods and returned with vines coiled and slung over their shoulders. Nabu came alongside with another section looped around his neck and under both arms. Sam watched at the trio stepped into the swamp. None of the men sank into the water and Sam guessed they knew where to step to avoid being sucked under. The men came next to Onga, chattering and still laughing quietly as they balanced the heavy vines on the slime-covered decaying trees.  Mokoyo whistled and Onga edged closer to him.
    Watching the elephant, Sam's legs felt suddenly weak and so he sat and tried to think. Merle. I need Merle. Merle will bring the Cat and then maybe we can get the skidder up and out.
    Sam continued watching the men as they maneuvered the vine around the elephant's head and then looped it through the bars on the skidder cage, their bodies moving in a rhythm that reminded him of a string game he used to play as a child. Looking down at his hands, he questioned his own sanity.
    Nabu worked from Onga's head while Mokoyo and Kem each dangled from an ear, their feet adhered to the elephant's side as though they had glue on them. Onga moved forward. When he was abreast of the skidder, Kem jumped off and landed on the axle. The oversized tire started to move slightly so Kem grabbed the topmost section of the cab.
    Sam heard a noise behind him and he turned to see Merle.
    "Hey Logger. Kjobo came for me." Merle came next to Sam and sat. "I figured you might need me."
    "God that Kjobo. He's like a watchdog or something."
    "Yeah, good man." Merle looked out into the swamp.
    "Well, there's the skidder."
    "I see."
    "We need the Cat."
    A low moan came from the elephant as a sucking sound escaped from the mud. Onga had the vine stretched tight against his neck as he heaved in the direction of the swamp's edge.
    "Holy Christ." Sam couldn't believe it. The Skidder was suddenly on its side.
    Mokoyo jumped off the elephant and moved the vine to a new position on the machine. In the next minute Onga had the skidder three feet out of the muck, resting nearly right side up.
    "Looks like we won't be needing the Cat after all," Merle said, rising and moving closer to the working men.
    Brown muck dripped down the metal of the machine while steam hovered over the engine from its warmth. Merle stepped onto a log, followed it to the skidder and climbed aboard, taking the key out of the ignition. He turned to Sam.
    "Better let 'er sit for a day, let the oil drain out of the cylinders. Then she should start right up."
    Sam's eyes fell to the ground. Well, what do you know?
    Nabu untied Onga. The animal's big head swayed sideways a couple of times as Nabu slapped mud onto the vine-burned neck before giving the elephant the okay to move freely. And then Onga did move freely, toward Sam. After he had walked twenty feet in Sam's direction, Sam realized the mammoth monster was coming. Standing up suddenly, he looked quickly for an escape route.
    "No. No. No."
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