‘It’s true that the world’s supply of the standard ‘glow in the dark’ material is harvested and refined entirely in the North American Crease. A single deposit of the phosphorescent substance was discovered in the late 1950s by Stuart Bewler in an acreage of the Crease he purchased at a steep discount for being ‘highly haunted.’ The so-called haunting, history assumes, was likely inspired by the cave system eventually known as Bewler’s Cavern, where the phosphorescent material inherent to all modern glow-in-the-dark products can be found in intricate veins, charged daily by the particular angle of the entrance and the sunset (and guarded by a malicious spirit, since exorcised).
Bewler’s initial enterprise, guided tours of the cavern, failed for lack of interest and the sheer dearth of happenstance tourists in the Crease. He made very little money and, worse, found those few who entered had a habit of taking illicit souvenirs. As the veins dwindled, he closed the cavern to the public and carved what remained of the veins out to sell himself. He boarded up the entrance and the cave remained unvisited for the better part of a decade.
Bewler ‘rediscovered’ his own cave in 1961 when the deteriorating boards began to give away and light once again entered the cavern, revealing that the depleted veins had replenished themselves. Further research indicated that this process occurred quickly- more quickly than any one scientist was particularly comfortable with. The glowing material exhibits none of the established traits of life but, given optimal conditions (those conditions being strictly within the veins of Bewler’s Cavern), the material grows like a moss. Despite expert suggestions that Bewler didn’t fully understand the substance he was handling, the man charged forward with entrepreneurial zeal, coopting a number of techniques he had seen implemented by the researchers to dilute and refine the substance into the marketable glowing ‘ink’ that is widely used in childrens’ toys today. The process has not changed since, though Bewler, and every other manager of ‘Bewler’s Glow-in-the-Dark Cavern and Refinery’ have vanished suddenly and under mysterious circumstances within five years of consistent and direct work with the material. Nobody has yet determined whether this pattern exists on a wide scale or how much interaction with the substance, and in what amounts, defines the catalyst for disappearance.
‘Bewler’s Glow-in-the-Dark Cavern and Refinery’ does not offer tours but the recent owners have done the very minimum to rebuff curious travelers who arrive outside of working hours. The bulk of the refinery has made the terrain somewhat confusing, so the author recommends visitors arrive in the early hours of the night. Those travelers entering the cave are said to disappear sometimes too, but that is inherent in the nature of the role and is likely a coincidence.’
-an excerpt, Autumn by the Wayside
Recent Comments