Invasive Species

Welcome to The Spot Writers.

Prompt for June: write a story that involves worms.

This week’s story was written by Phil Yeats. In September, 2021, he published The Souring Seas, the first volume in a precautionary tale about the hazards of ignoring human-induced climate change. The second volume, Building Houses of Cards, appeared in May 2022. He’s now published They All Come Tumbling Down, the final volume in his The Road to Environmental Armageddon trilogy. For information about these books, or his older soft-boiled mysteries, visit his website https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com/

 

Invasive Species

Phil Yeats

 The seventy-five-year-old man strode into his kitchen on an unusually warm April morning. The spring in his step belied his advancing years.

“What’s gotten into you?” his wife asked.

“Chinese jumping worms,” he replied.

“Worms! How can those disgusting things make you happy?”

He sighed. She wasn’t a gardener and failed to appreciate the importance of worms. “As you know, I must create a story every month for my writing group. This month’s prompt is ‘worms’. I hadn’t managed a single good idea until just now when I read about jumping worms on my computer’s news feed.”

“Yuck! What’s so special about these buggers?”

“They’re invasive and harmful, and much more aggressive than our normal worms. The article was about getting rid of them.”

She shook her head before turning toward the kitchen counter. “I don’t see how that helps you generate a story, but you’re the author, so go for it.” She refilled her coffee cup and sat at their kitchen computer. She opened the first of many online games she played.

Later, she encountered her hubby digging in their vegetable garden. “Looking for worms, are you?”

He stopped digging and leaned on the handle of his spade. “Nice day and soon time for spring planting. May still get frost, but I can loosen up the soil.”

She smiled, a mischievous grin, before repeating her question. “Sure you’re not after those stupid worms?”

“Did my homework. Unlike our regular worms, they only live for one season. If we have them, we won’t see any until later in the year, when this year’s crop grows large enough to notice.” He stopped talking and turned over a few shovelfuls of soil. “Bit surprised I haven’t seen any of our regular worms.”

“Aha!” she replied. “The aggressive invaders chased them all away.”

“Doubt it, but the lack of worms is a worry. This soil should have lots. Can’t imagine why there aren’t any.”

 

A few days later, the summer-like conditions retreated to their more common cold and rainy spring weather. After several days of constant rainfall, our geriatric gardener ventured forth to assess the situation. He saw puddles were everywhere, and in most of them, dead worms flooded from their burrows. He crouched down and inspected several. They were the normal worms he’d seen in the garden for years.

“So,” he said to no one in particular. “All’s well. They must have been deeper in the ground than the foot of so of soil I turned over.”

 

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The Spot Writers—Our members:

Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/

Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com/wicker-chitter/

Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com/

Chiara De Giorgi: https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.com/