The whirring of the saw blade echoed through the vast empty building as I stepped inside. I marvelled at the towering ceilings and maze of rusty equipment that filled the musty interior of the old sawmill. With each step I took, the cavern's immense emptiness was filled with the echo of my footfalls meeting the littered debris, generating a constant crunch upon the unsanitary concrete floor.
I had heard tales of this place as a child - the huge saws that roared nonstop as they sliced massive tree trunks into boards and beams. Clouds of sawdust billowing into the air, coating every surface with a fuzzy film. The mill employed dozens of workers back in its heyday, providing steady jobs that allowed families to thrive for generations.
But those prosperous times were long past. The mill had closed over twenty years ago when the last of the surrounding forest was cleared. The jobs dried up and the workers drifted away, leaving the hulking sawmill empty and obsolete.
Yet someone had recently fired up one of the saws again based on the whirring sound that continued to reverberate through the building. I followed the noise, both unnerved and fascinated by this hint of activity in the seemingly abandoned ruin.
As I walked, I glanced at the disused machinery gathering dust around me. Rust slowly devoured the circular saw blades and chains that once moved trees along the production line with brutal efficiency. Cobwebs now choked their gears and handles, freezing them in time.
The smell of sawdust still lingered - that sweet, piney aroma that perfumed the clothing of every mill worker. But other scents had also seeped into the wood over the decades - machine oil, grease, and the earthy must of rot and decay. They mingled into an odd mélange that wrinkled my nose, yet stirred a strange nostalgia in my heart for the hardworking days of old.
I realized someone else was here when I rounded a corner and spotted a hunched figure across the building. Though distant, the person's silhouette stood out starkly amid the motionless equipment. They stood at a large circular saw sunk into the floor, its jagged teeth still grinding away despite the lack of logs to cut.
Work gloves and a thick apron shielded the stranger from debris as they adjusted levers and tweaked dials to keep the old saw running. I sensed pride in their posture as they breathed life into the antique machinery with an expert's touch. This was someone who knew the mill intimately and understood the orchestration required to harness its power once again.
I was content to observe in silence rather than disturb their work. The crackle of the saw blade chewing empty air permeated the space, drowning out the sounds of my footsteps. I found myself wandering to a nearby station where massive vices sat frozen in mid-turn, abandoned in the middle of tasks never completed.
Further on, an ancient conveyor belt stretched away into the gloom, once used to shuttle cut lumber to be stacked and categorized. Rust ate through its links and the rubber slats had cracked and worn away decades ago, but I could envision fresh boards sliding along its length when the mill still thrived.
My fingers trailed over the weathered handles of a debarking machine, feeling the smooth grooves worn into the wood by calloused hands over time. The equipment silently spoke of the generations who had toiled here, day after day, risking life and limb to keep the saws running. What stories would they share if voices could be restored to their rusted shells?
I could have lingered for hours in that time capsule, soaking in the ambience of industry long forgotten. But the one active saw continued its strident song, drawing me back across the factory floor. Now I was eager to meet the ghost in the machine who had resurrected its vigor one last time.
Yet when I arrived at the saw, its operator had vanished. The blade still spun angrily, gnashing away without purpose or target. But the figure who had stood over it was gone, leaving no footprints behind in the dusty grime. I glanced around in bewilderment, sensing this mystery person's absence like a chill in the air.
A sudden shudder rippled through the building, traveling up through the soles of my feet. The walls and rafters trembled, raining dust down through the shafts of sunlight lancing through broken windows high above. With a screech of tortured metal, the spinning saw ripped free from its moorings and tore across the room.
I dove aside just in time, feeling the scream of the saw blade pass hotly by my arm. It slammed into the far wall in a fountain of sparks, leaving a deep gouge in the bricks before clattering to the floor in a twisted ruin. The building's vibrations ceased instantly, leaving a heavy silence in their wake.
I could only stare open-mouthed at the violent ruin left in the wake of the old saw's demise. It had been pushed past the limits of its remaining life, destroying itself in one final defiant act. As the adrenaline slowly drained from my limbs, I knew any secrets behind the sawmill's reawakening had vanished with that strange operator. This once-proud crucible of hard work would now drift back into silent memory.
I took one last long look around at the machinery frozen in time, imprinting all the details my mind could hold. Then I walked away, leaving the old sawmill to its ruins and rust. But the smells and sounds of its heyday lingered in my senses, taking root in my soul. And the mystery of the ghost in the machine remained carved into my memory, intertwined with the history of a lost way of life.
Really masterful writing that transported me fully into another place and time. Good luck in contest.