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-ofthe-way corner of Pottawatomie County just to find that the metal gate was padlocked
shut.
The thick links of the chain were not quite as rusty as the places where the white paint
had chipped off. In the distance I could see a total of three or four small pumping
units and a small tank battery.
"Welcome to The Monkey's Paw Field," said Vernon. "I'll open the gate. Wait here."
"Sounds good," I said. I couldn't believe I was considering buying this oil and gas field,
first developed in the late 1940s, early 1950s.
When production had tapered off, probably due to producing the field too aggressively,
which resulted perfs clogged up with sand and scale, the owners had decided to do a
waterflood. They weren't too picky about their water source, and they used the yellowbrown froth from the South Canadian River. It was free, after all, and all they had to do
is run a line and pump away, injecting the river water into the injection wells.
The results were predictable. The water increased the pressure in the reservoir and
also pushed the hydrocarbons toward the area where the producing wells were
located.
So, the first year or so was fine. Better production, better recovery.
But, there's a price to pay for pumping a highly organic stew down into a deep, dark,
warm anaerobic environment. Before long, there was hydrogen sulfide and sulfuric
acid, and the pumps started to show signs of corrosion.
That was twenty years ago.
Today, the level of hydrogen sulfide would no longer kill the stray dog, geologist, or
oilfield thief.
But, the amount of oil being produced was barely enough to pay for the electricity on
the lease to say nothing of hauling off the saltwater. When the price collapsed from
$110 / barrel to $26, there was talk of just walking away, but that would mean having
to plug and abandon the three or four remaining wells, and to clean up the lease. It
was better to hemorrhage slowly than to cut one's own carotid artery.
"Padlock rusted shut," announced Vernon. "Let's just walk over here."
"If it's rusted shut, how do you sell the oil?" I asked.
"Oh. We have time to solve that problem. The tanks probably won't be full for another
two months. In the meantime, the harder it is to get on the lease, the harder it is for
locals to satisfy their larcenous urges."

M O N K E Y ' S P A W -- N A
SH
"Oh. Good point. Of course you could always salt the lease with snakes. Rat snakes
look a lot like water moccasins from a distance. They keep the vermin population
down, and they can keep people from spending too much time on the ground," I
offered.
I liked my suggestion. I just was not quite sure where you might find a quantity of rat
snakes sufficient to infest the lease to the point that it would give the appearance of a
writhing, rippling herpetological utopia in the setting sun.
Perhaps there were teenage boys in the vicinity who had mothers who were fed up
with finding the escaped snakes in their clothes hampers.
Why is the field called The Monkeys Paw?
"The geologist who found the field back in the late 40s named it that. I'm not quite
sure why, but apparently there was some sort of horrible tragedy. Some people say it's
haunted. I am not prepared to disagree with them."
I startled. I felt the presence of something very cold, thick, and evil.
"Let's go," I said. "It's starting to get dark, and it's cold. February is still a tough month
here in Oklahoma."
Vernon looked at the pink, lavenders, and powdery blues starting to suffuse the
horizon.
"Good idea. We can come back tomorrow morning. For now, let's head back to town,"
he said.
The truck smelled of high-gravity oil. Its acrid scent made my eyes water.
"How did this happen?" I asked.
The small mayonnaise jar that contained oil from the Monkey's Paw #3 had suddenly
come open, and the lid sat on the floor. The oil in the jar seemed to bubble a bit. When
I looked more closely, I realized the bubbles were just glints of light.
But, how and why did the lid come off?
I was ready to go. Get out of here. As quickly as possible.