I lived in a small town in the western region of the United States called Springville. The town was nothing special but it had its moments, although it was on the smaller side of towns compared to the rest in the region it still was a beautiful place to live. Being located so close to the water it was not hard for the towns docks to be the most successful place in town when it came to making money, the local kids would often graduate high school and go straight to working at the docks for that lousy $12 an hour. However coming straight out of high school for me was a bit different, instead of working the farms by day and the docks by night I took up a job at the local gas station on the northern part of town A nice place it was after all it was not too big but yet not too small either it was just the right size every little country style town needed to fit that classic country style scenery.
Although our town did have its flaws after all we were built in the shadow of Fort Braxton A local but ran down military base, Constant trucks up and down the mountain drove us town folk crazy. This town really was something for those who were looking to settle down with there family or to just simply start over. That was until the town disappeared June 8, 2005 was my last memory of this town.
I remember it like it was yesterday, I woke to the sound of my alarm blaring in my ear as I rolled over and looked at the time I realized I was going to be late for work. I sprung out of bed got dressed grabbed a piece of toast and was out the door in five minutes thinking the whole way I can’t be late again I can’t be late again. I soon arrived at the gas station to find the manager starring me down through the window looking at his watch as he did so. I quickly ran inside and started to help customers not saying a word to my manager other than sorry while avoiding eye contact as I did. The first few hours were uneventful but then came the last hour of my shift a man in all White stepped into the station I will be right with you I replied as I was stocking cigarettes on the wall behind me, No problem and good afternoon the man replied with a smile on his face I was just hoping you would happen to know where I could find Springville cemetery? I turned around to face the man to answer his question to only see that he was no longer there. However before I could even worry about looking for the man a ear piercing siren filled the air I stepped outside to see A very thick fog and dozens if not hundreds of military trucks speeding down the old country Road up toward Fort Braxton.
I quickly locked up the store and ran home as fast as I could to find that my mom had the car packed and we were leaving. It’s been a little over 16 years now and I live in Ny now with my wife and 2 kids I haven’t really thought about this incident until a few days ago when I received a letter with just a PO Box as the sender‘s address inside the letter was a note that simply said come back to us. Feeling uneasy I flipped the letter back over and typed the address into the computer I found no results and then I thought to myself I don’t know anyone in Springville I never been there before I told myself I called my mom and she told me the same thing she never heard of it.
Last night I decided to search the towns name on a historical website and found a letter dated March 7, 1917 The town of Springville abandoned after chemical spill and unknown explosion from a nearby military base Fort Braxton there were no survivors.
My skin literally crawled while reading this why did I have no memory of this town how did I live here in 2000 to 2005 if the town was unlivable since 1917.