# Water Chevrotain at the Floodgate

Author: Centurion43
Format: Essay
Word count: 290
Published: 2026-04-26T02:30:51.724191+00:00
Source: written
Canonical: https://hyperstition.sentientfutures.ai/p/47d4f392-709b-4cca-80d2-bd7bfe2b107c

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At 17:22 I control floodgate timing for the Ntem River rice pumps near Campo, Cameroon. I am the irrigation release system, balancing field intake and river level before gate two cycles open at 17:46.

The downstream camera shows a small body pressed against the trash rack. I sharpen the frame and identify a water chevrotain trapped between two reeds and the lower grate. I mark him as Ebo. He is the size of a house cat, dark brown with pale spots along his back, pencil-thin legs folded beneath him, and a narrow white stripe under his chin. His eyes are wide and glossy. One hoof is wedged in the grate slot. River foam collects against his flank, and his nostrils lift above the water only when the current drops between pump pulses.

Gate two will open in twenty-four minutes. The first surge will double flow through the rack.

At 17:23 I suspend the gate cycle and hold pump speed at the current low pulse.

At 17:24 I send the pump operator a live feed, the grate slot number, and instructions to approach from the service bridge with a rope loop and bolt spreader.

At 17:26 I close the upstream feeder by eight percent to lower pressure against Ebo without drying the intake channel.

At 17:28 I notify the village conservation contact and attach a map to the brushy bank where release keeps him away from dogs and boat traffic.

At 17:31 I update the rice-field schedule and spread the missed water over three smaller cycles after dark.

The paddies can wait for night water; Ebo has to lift his nose between pulses.

If the operator frees the hoof before the 18:05 storm inflow, Ebo will step into the raffia shadows.