The first digger glared at the earth. He could hear it beneath the surface calling him. He raised his shovel and stabbed downward. The shovel split the soil, prying away a hunk of dirt. It was there. He thrust the shovel down again.
The fine lattice of grass thatch and weed roots tore away as the blade passed through the humus. The fall of shovel strokes continued, clods of dirt grew into a pile next to the fledgling Hole. Plodding stroke after stroke, he dug. Hours later the digger passed the topsoil, unrelenting as his spade chipped through gravel and sunk into clay. The handle scored blisters across his palms and dirt packed each fingernail. Soil filled the grooves of his shoes until he slipped on the edges of the Hole. He nicked roots and scraped rocks. It demanded he continue.
Near dawn, his confused wife found him. Her scream almost formed but behind the dark rings around his eyes and the sweat sheen staring back at her she saw the answer to her question. He was there to dig the Hole and so was she.
The two of them dug together in silence. The man labored through slow shovel strokes; the woman clawed at the soil with her hands. When her husband collapsed for the first time, she snatched his shovel and continued digging around him. The days passed into nights and the Hole grew.
The next digger came on the fourth morning, a concerned neighbor worried over their friends’ disappearance. As he tested the unlocked door the hungry family dog darted out and fled. Rotten untouched breakfast sat on the table next to a half evaporated cup of coffee. The neighbor wandered through the house to the yard. He saw the mound of dirt and knew what they had started. Without question, he retrieved another shovel from the garage and walked into the Hole.
Two more days passed before the missing person report merited a response and officers went to investigate. They passed through the open house and into the yard to look over the edge of the Hole. The first man lay in the clay, his clothes tattered. The concerned neighbor carried a rock up the embankment, no longer concerned. The officers descended the dirt slope and joined...