8/17/2019 The Monkey's Paw #1

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MONKEY'S PAW --NASH

CHAPTER 1

MONKEY'S PAW #3

We drove up to the cattle guard at the entrance of the oil and gas lease in this out-of-the-a! corner of Pottaato"ie #ount! $ust to %nd that the "etal gate as padloc&edshut

 (he thic& lin&s of the chain ere not )uite as rust! as the places here the hite painthad chipped o* +n the distance + could see a total of three or four s"all pu"pingunits and a s"all tan& ,atter!

Welco"e to (he Mon&e!'s Pa .ield/ said 0ernon +'ll open the gate Wait here

Sounds good/ + said + couldn't ,elieve + as considering ,u!ing this oil and gas %eld/

%rst developed in the late 1234s/ earl! 1254s

When production had tapered o*/ pro,a,l! due to producing the %eld too aggressivel!/hich resulted perfs clogged up ith sand and scale/ the oners had decided to do aater6ood (he! eren't too pic&! a,out their ater source/ and the! used the !ello-,ron froth fro" the South #anadian 7iver +t as free/ after all/ and all the! had to dois run a line and pu"p aa!/ in$ecting the river ater into the in$ection ells

 (he results ere predicta,le (he ater increased the pressure in the reservoir andalso pushed the h!drocar,ons toard the area here the producing ells erelocated

So/ the %rst !ear or so as %ne 8etter production/ ,etter recover!

8ut/ there's a price to pa! for pu"ping a highl! organic ste don into a deep/ dar&/ar" anaero,ic environ"ent 8efore long/ there as h!drogen sul%de and sulfuricacid/ and the pu"ps started to sho signs of corrosion

 (hat as tent! !ears ago

 (oda!/ the level of h!drogen sul%de ould no longer &ill the stra! dog/ geologist/ oroil%eld thief

8ut/ the a"ount of oil ,eing produced as ,arel! enough to pa! for the electricit! onthe lease to sa! nothing of hauling o* the saltater When the price collapsed fro"9114 : ,arrel to 9;

8/17/2019 The Monkey's Paw #1

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M O N K E Y ' S P A W -- N AS H

Oh ?ood point Of course !ou could ala!s salt the lease ith sna&es 7at sna&esloo& a lot li&e ater "occasins fro" a distance (he! &eep the ver"in populationdon/ and the! can &eep people fro" spending too "uch ti"e on the ground/ +

o*ered

+ li&ed "! suggestion + $ust as not )uite sure here !ou "ight %nd a )uantit! of ratsna&es su@cient to infest the lease to the point that it ould give the appearance of arithing/ rippling herpetological utopia in the setting sun

Perhaps there ere teenage ,o!s in the vicinit! ho had "others ho ere fed upith %nding the escaped sna&es in their clothes ha"pers

Wh! is the %eld called (he Mon&e!Bs Pa>C

(he geologist ho found the %eld ,ac& in the late 34s na"ed it that +'" not )uite

sure h!/ ,ut apparentl! there as so"e sort of horri,le traged! So"e people sa! it'shaunted + a" not prepared to disagree ith the"

+ startled + felt the presence of so"ething ver! cold/ thic&/ and evil

=et's go/ + said +t's starting to get dar&/ and it's cold .e,ruar! is still a tough "onthhere in O&laho"a

0ernon loo&ed at the pin&/ lavenders/ and poder! ,lues starting to su*use thehoriDon

?ood idea We can co"e ,ac& to"orro "orning .or no/ let's head ,ac& to ton/he said

 (he truc& s"elled of high-gravit! oil +ts acrid scent "ade "! e!es ater

Ho did this happen> + as&ed

 (he s"all "a!onnaise $ar that contained oil fro" the Mon&e!'s Pa F had suddenl!co"e open/ and the lid sat on the 6oor (he oil in the $ar see"ed to ,u,,le a ,it When+ loo&ed "ore closel!/ + realiDed the ,u,,les ere $ust glints of light

8ut/ ho and h! did the lid co"e o*>

+ as read! to go ?et out of here As )uic&l! as possi,le

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