Legacy

By Don Hayward

Legacy is based on a scenario in my major novel, After the Last Day. If you enjoy this story you may want to read the novel which is available both as an e-book and paperback. Links to purchase the novel can be found at the end of the story. In the novel, some years after a global economic disaster, the struggling community in southern Ontario was faced with the imminent failure of all safety systems at the nuclear generating stations. A safe disposal of the nuclear material had to be found, and the community chose the “McNeil Mine” near Sudbury Ontario as the place to bury the danger. Legacy is the story of the people in charge of the site one thousand years after the nuclear waste was sealed inside the mine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Hayward
• Release date: Jun 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310016639

Don Hayward

Don Hayward was born in Sudbury Ontario in 1946. He grew up at a hydro-electric generating site on the Spanish River, surrounded by the natural world of the Canadian Shield hard rock country. This is the location for Echo of the Whip-poor-Will. Don resides in Goderich Ontario

Book preview

Legacy

A short story

By Don Hayward

Copyright 2015 Don Hayward

Smashwords Edition

Licence Notes

Thank you for downloading this e-book. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Preface

Legacy is based on a scenario in my major novel, After the Last Day. If you enjoy this story you may want to read the novel which is available both as an e-book and paperback. Links to purchase the novel can be found at the end of the story. In the novel, some years after a global economic disaster, the struggling community in southern Ontario was faced with the imminent failure of all safety systems at the nuclear generating stations. A safe disposal of the nuclear material had to be found, and the community chose the McNeil Mine near Sudbury Ontario as the place to bury the danger. Legacy is the story of the people in charge of the site one thousand years after the nuclear waste was sealed inside the mine.

I would be very interested in your feedback. Please leave a review on Smashwords or send an e-mail to Don.

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The sun beat down on my bare head, baking me as I squatted on my hilltop perch, my safe place when scared, confused or bullied. Heat rose from the ancient basalt that was stripped bare by glaciers and weathered to grey over the centuries. Stubborn bits of dried, grey-green moss clung to the fractured places that held some moisture. Sphagnum and blueberries persisted in damper rocky swales that faced north, away from the killing sun. Below the south-facing, steep slopes and the fractured, rust stained drops and ledges of the hard shield rock, the place of the Keepers was spread out, suffering in the sun. The space benefited little from the cooling, hilltop breeze. The wind slapped wisps of straight dark hair against my cheeks. My eyes watered in the dry gusts, blurring my view of the pond. An oversized puddle was surrounded by dying vegetation. The putrid yellow-brown pool of sludge was fed by a strangely clear, odourless trickle, emanating