The house would be bulldozed in the morning.

He shone his headlamp on the carpet, dull green worn through and thin, and knelt down for a moment and moved his hand over it as if it was something extraordinary.

COPPER MINING THE PAST BY SCOTT ROBERTS 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 113

The house would be bulldozed in the morning. The copper miner pulled his tool bag through the doorway. He felt the floor move as he moved, heard the clinking of china and silverware.

It was after nine o’clock at night already. He shone his headlamp on the carpet, dull green worn through and thin, and knelt down for a moment and moved his hand over it as if it was something extraordinary.

In the kitchen the metal oven shone back at him when the headlamp hit it at the right angle. The light was some sort of life, a memory.

Most all of these houses were built in the late 40s and 50s after the war. Most were gone or would soon be.

He had to check the meter and the breaker box to make sure the electricity was disconnected before he mined the copper wiring. He ga…