The Hogarth Experiment Part 1

The year was 1942 and the war in Europe raged on relentlessly. Each day men were killed in battlefields far away. In a sleepy little hamlet tucked deep in the Wye Valley, in a converted shed behind his home Professor Robert Hogarth worked in his makeshift laboratory. His hope was to develop a stimulant to make plants grow larger and quicker, thus helping with the food shortage. Outside the storm clouds gathered extinguishing the light of the sun. In the distance, there were rumbles as the thunder began to roar. Hogarth worked feverishly on his latest experiment as it was almost done. A pain shot through him, he gasped and gave out a short cry. As he fell, he knocked his experiment across the wooden floor. The container holding his latest experiment shattered and its contents leaked through the floor spilling over everything beneath. The flame from his Bunsen burner began a fire that raced out of control. Flames licked around the building charring everything in sight. To be continued…