Double tragedy: Big Red's last stand and Washroom deluge

Last night began as any other early December Thursday could, but suddenly took a turn for the tragic. I met with some peoples up at the Redwood on Capitol to watch Thursday night football. The beer was flowing, the game was competitive and merriment abounded. After the Eagles victory we decided to head back down to Sodo for a little Catan to top off the evening. It was a decent game, which is to say that I won, but then everything went wrong...

Big Red's Last Stand:
At some point during the game I'd set an old friend by my side. Many know him by one of two names, Ben or Big Red. Big Red has been a part of the scene for nearly a decade now.

It was in the late spring of 2001 that he came into my life. A friend of mine and I went out to the Ave and I can't remember all the finite details but in the end my friend found Big Red. When we were bringing Ben back to the dorms there was a conversation about how to conceal him from those that might want to cause him harm. "[he's] a vase for my mother" was the cover story.

As the school year came to a close Ben had to find a new home. He couldn't just live in the dormitory closet all summer. So I took Ben with me. We had some crazy times that summer and eventually we both ended up in Federal Way. After some time stuck in treefingers we both returned to the U District and lived on the hillside off 22nd and then again in the house on 15th. He'd become apart of the group.

When I moved to Alki so did Big Red and then again to the apartment on Avalon. We were nearly inseparable. He went everywhere I went until I left West Seattle. At that time there were others who needed Ben more than I did and as Mr Bergstrom would say, "that's the problem with being middle-class, anybody who really cares will abandon you for those who need it more."

I lost track of Big Red for some time. I alway knew he was around but we didn't see each other for some time. He had a couple of minor accidents and was out of commission for a while. When I started spending more time in Sodo I came to find that he was there too! He had a couple of broken limbs but nothing a trip to the market couldn't solve. In a few weeks we were back in business.

However he wasn't the same. At some point he fractured his torso and had to be treated with a degree of delicacy. Now during the game of Catan I had Big Red next to me, a true right hand man. Upon claiming victory I exclaimed and, in a moment worthy of Pangford, Big Red toppled to his doom. There were shards of red glass littered around like bloodied body parts on a battle field. I was in total shock. It wasn't completely unexpected but that didn't make the situation any less tragic. Just as I was about to settle into mourning it got worse...

Washroom Deluge:
I was about to step outside and reminisce about my old friend when I hear someone yell, "water!" I look down the studio hallway and sure enough inches of water were spewing from the laundry room. It had already consumed three passage ways by the time I made it to the source. The waste water hose from the washer had become dislodged from the drainage pipe and was spewing murky water at an unprecedented rate.

I got the hose back into the pipe and we shut down the washer to prevent further chaos, but the damage was already done. Every towel available was in motion, sopping up as much as possible and then being rung out only to start again. People were screaming for help as they continued to try to stop any water from making it's way into the great room. Luckily a blanket was on the couch nearby and we were able to use it as a dam to stop the river.

For about an hour we fought the rising tide, which wasn't rising much since we stopped the flow, but you get the idea. We'd won the battle with minimal damage. It was hard fought but we won.

When the panic subsided I remember the loss from early and decided there was nothing more I could do but simply go to bed. As I laid in my bed I couldn't help but think, "the gods have punished us." Now I just have to figure out why and atone for our failings.

Any of you with good memories of Big Red or the Deluge hit em up in the comments I'd love to hear your take on it all.