Creepypastas

Mississippi Salvage

June 24th, 2011

Finally found a job working with Zach at his uncle's place. A salvaging company, digging up boat parts and other junk from the river to make it safer, stuff like that. It's not really my thing, but it's a job and I'm grateful for it. Met his uncle earlier today, his name is Walter, really jovial and built like a concrete mixer. We got to talking for awhile, ended up liking me and gave me a position as a diver for his crew. Told him I never dived a day in my life, but he said he will give me lessons over the weekend before I start on Monday. Only weird thing is I have to keep these journals. For company purposes, Walter says. I guess it's in order to track our work ethic and personal health on the job or something. Anyway, I haven't done anything like this since grade school, so maybe it'll be good for me.

June 25th, 2011

We went out on the river early in the morning, just me and him, in this small fishing boat. And before that we spent a couple hours going through equipment, making sure everything worked. We must have spent an hour on the tanks alone. He says the worst thing is having a faulty tank, and he went through a spiel of a guy he once knew who burst his lungs because he didn't check the pressure gauge of the tank. Horrible way to go, he said, just popping like a balloon. After he told this story he thought it best we get right to it. He showed me the ropes, how to fall backwards from the boat, proper swim techniques and all that. It was exhausting, but at the end of the morning he said I was a natural. I think he's just being nice.

June 26th, 2011

This morning we worked on salvaging exercises. When we got out on the river he took out a small bright orange and threw it in the water. He told me to wait a few minutes, check through my gear again, and then dive. I spent ages looking for that damn pipe–the Mississippi is so thick with mud and sludge I don't know how anyone can see through it. Finally I found it on the riverbed next to a submerged log and brought it back up. I didn't know he was timing me. When he showed me the stop watch he suggested I start lifting weights so I can carry heavier things back, in case the crank is broken. More work.

June 27th, 2011

First official day on the job. All meet and greet with the rest of the crew. Typical run-of-the-mill middle-aged strong-backs with mean faces but friendly spirits. They slapped me on the back, shook my hand, really welcoming. Afterward we geared up and went on the river. Nothing exciting–retrieved a few submerged logs from the communal boating sections, including a forty footer sticking up through the surface. Sent me and Zach to wrap the chain around the trunk and start the crank. At the end of the day we had some beers, overall nice start.

June 28th, 2011

More logs today, and once again I was sent to reel them up. My diving partner was Thomas. When we wrapped the chain around the log a Pike dashed out from a hole and scared the hell out of me, much to the amusement of Thomas. He gave me shit when we got back up.

June 29th, 2011

Today we found a sunken fishing boat. A few of us had to go in to push it up while someone worked the crank. When it surfaced I looked it over and saw some hard grey buildup on the motor. I asked if it was coral and they told me coral doesn't form in the Mississippi, but they weren't sure what it was.

June 30th, 2011

Slow day today. Nothing much to report, other than Thomas sending me various pictures of Pike fish. Checked over the equipment, turns out someone doodled another Pike on my tank. Ha, ha, ha.

July 1st, 2011

Last day on my first week and finally we get something more than logs and fishing boats. We got a call from the DNR saying there's a large Runaboat on the East bank we need to haul out. I dove in and surveyed the boat, tried to find the strongest point to attach the crank (rotted wood's a pain in the ass). The left haul had a large hole, probably tried to chance a rockbed and failed. I attached the crank and gave them the go-ahead. After we pulled it up we had to drain it, remove all the loose materials before sending it to the junkyard. As I cleaned through I found a video-camera in the cabin. There was grey material covered over it, kinda like the kind I saw on the fishing boat a couple days ago. They said they knew a guy who could salvage the files to see what was on there in order to contact the owners of the boat and fine them.