It is a peculiar feature of the human mind that a man may, by some misadventure, find himself lodged beneath a sewage drain cover and yet be at a complete loss as to how he arrived at such a station in life. Such was the case in northwest Reno, where a gentleman of unknown recollections was recently retrieved from the subterranean regions by a band of gallant firemen.
The affair began when an ordinary citizen was out taking his dog for an afternoon constitutional and found themselves unceremoniously detained by his four-legged companion, who insisted upon making the acquaintance of a particular section of pavement near W. 7th St. and N. McCarran Blvd. At that moment, the citizen and presumably the dog became aware of a most uncommon sound emanating from beneath their feet—a voice beseeching the heavens, or in this case, the sidewalk–for deliverance.
Summoning the authorities, the good Samaritan soon had the Reno Fire Department on the scene. The firefighters, whose professional experience no doubt includes many a tale stranger than fiction, did not hesitate. With commendable swiftness, they pried up the sewage drain cover, peered into the abyss, and, seeing a man in distress, lowered a ladder into that netherworld of drainage and lost dignity.
The man, once retrieved, was promptly conveyed to the hospital, where they discovered that while his physical condition remained uncertain, his recollections of how he came to be beneath Reno’s streets were most assuredly absent. Whether he had fallen, wandered, or been spirited away by some unseen force remains a mystery, as does the question of what grand purpose he was pursuing before fate saw fit to deposit him in a storm drain.
One can only hope that his memory returns in due course, if only to satisfy the curiosity of those who now find themselves pondering the age-old question–what manner of business could lead a man to awaken beneath a city street, with nothing but the echoes of his bewilderment for company?
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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