By Tony Sharp

Till yesterday Eric had been a Teenager but he had just turned twenty years old.

He had never been able to hear since he was a baby. He was born deaf and dumb. Now dumb does not mean you are stupid, it means you can’t speak. The reason Eric could not speak was because he could not hear the words to learn to speak.

He sent his time walking up the railway lines to where the railway worker were building new train tracks. The big strong railway workers were always friends to Eric. By sign language using his hands he could ask for food or water.

Some time latter the track go longer and longer then it went into a small tunnel. Eric stood at the end of the line standing at the opening to the tunnel looking out across a big valley. Teams of riggers were hauling heavy lengths of steel and bolting them together, they were constructing the huge towers that rose all the way up from the valley floor. There were eleven of them stretching in a row spanning the valley. The railway line stretched from tower to tower was called a Via duct. Unlike a road bridge it had no sides to stop anyone falling off. The bridge was for trains not people. Them finally it was finished Eric had to walk across it to get to the new camp at the end of the line to see his friends.

When ever Eric walked on the train track he would often look back to see if a train was coming as he could not hear them. Eric had a trick before he started to walk across the Via duct. He would lay down and put his face on the railway track to feel if any vibrations were slightly shaking the steel line. If he felt them it meant a train was not far away and he would wait for it to pass before starting out.

The railway men use a trolley called a jigger to run up and down the lines. It was called a jigger as two men had to push and pull a lever to make the wheels go round and push it along. When a train came they would pull the jigger off the railway line onto a special side track to allow the train to pass. Half way across the Via duct was a place to pull the jigger off.

Trains are so heavy they take a long time to slow down and stop. If a train came onto the Via duct the men on a jigger could push fast to get to the jigger platform and get off in time so as to not get run over by the train.

Today Eric felt no vibrations and set off across the bridge. He looked backwards to check train as he could not hear them when to his surprise all of a sudden a train came out of the tunnel in front of him and came onto the Via duct very fast. Eric started running as fast as he could to get to the jigger platform, if he could not get there in time he was going to be run over. He looked at the train and how far to the half way jigger stop and he knew he could not get there in time. Then he did a very brave thing. He got down on his hands and knees and slowly let himself hang over the side, holding on to the wooden railway sleeper by just his hands and arms. The whole bridge was shaking as the train rumbled by. The train driver leaned way out the side window, all he could see was two hands hanging on for dear life. Then Eric did something that was not wise, he looked down. There was nothing between him and the river way, way below. Looking down made him fell dizzy with fright and he nearly let go. He forced himself to look up, he wanted to know if the train was past. He had to see as he could not hear. Now his arms started to ache and still the train was not past.

When you are frightened times seems to go so slowly. Finally the last carriage called the guards van past. It took ever bit of Eric remaining energy to pull his whole body weight back up onto the railway line. His arms felt like they were on fire. Slowly Eric’s heart beat slowed down. Just before dark he made it into camp. His arms were so sore he had trouble using sign language to tell his friends that had happened.

One of the older men sat in the corner quietly thinking how to prevent this frightening situation from happen again. No one noticed him splicing a rope. One end was small loop and the other was a big loop. Then it was finished he got up from his seat and tapped Eric on the shoulder to get his attention and beckoned him to follow him outside. Outside next to the tool shed was a big stack of railway sleepers. The man put the small loop over one hand and the big loop over the end of a sleeper log then he lifted his legs to swing by one arm. Then Eric got it. It was a good idea, this system meant if he was caught again he could hang using only small energy in one arm and his other arm would be fresh to pull him up. From then on he was known as “Hanging Eric” as the hanging rope was always around his shoulders.

Years later Eric learned Morse Code and became a railway telegraph operator. Sending out, the dots and dashes, down the wire line from station to station. To hear the incoming signals Eric rested his bare toes against the speaker. He could feel the dots and dashes to be able to write them down. This was his job for many years.

One year the railway had a competition to find the fastest telegraph operator. Who was the fastest at sending and receiving in Morse code. Eric won the first prize, he had become the best operator in the whole country.

Even though he could not hear and say words did not stop him reading and writing words.

As he got older the new invention of radio replaced the Morse code and Eric lost his job. Eric didn’t mind it was time to retire to what he loved to do best. Tell stories like hanging off the bridge to save his own life. His best stories were about the old day about how the railway lines were made and the friends that he meet and treated him as a friend at the camp sites along the line. Eric was dumb, he could not talk but he was a very smart man who has written many stories that so many boys and girls have found so much fun to read.

Improve reading by phonics www.thesoundway.com.au