I’m an 18 years old young woman recently orphaned. An hour earlier I was at my brother’s house for dinner I told him and his lovely wife that I was just given an assignment in my biology class at the community college to turn over a rotten log and catalog what I found underneath. This was a weekend assignment.  My brother offered to give some specimens in case I couldn’t find enough. He offered me a leech too but I declined it.  I thanked them for everything. He runs a bait and tackle shop for fishermen at the local lakes.

Our parents recently died and the family farm was sold.  The proceeds will be split between my brother and I.  It’s a lot of money but we can’t have full control over our shares of the proceeds until we reach 30 years old.I have 12 years to wait. My brother is 25 and only has to wait five years. For now I’m living in a mother-n-law suite attached to my brother’s house. I got up the next morning and my brother gave me a bait cup in case I need more creepy crawlies. I tucked the cup in my cleavage and drove off. My brother let me borrow his dog for company.  It’s always nice to have a dog around.

We have a cabin located on what was left of the family farm on a 5 acre lot with woods, stream and family cemetery. Four generations of my family were buried there. I miss my parents terribly and would rather have them around.  I arrived after a 15 minute drive.  I carefully removed the bait cup from my cleavage and released the earthworms and slugs on the ground. Fortunately the lid was was still on it.

I went back outside stripped to the waist since it was hot. I found a suitable log and set up my mobile phone to make a video of what happened when I turned the log over if I needed help identifying what I saw.  I turned the log over and caught a quick glance of a snake and salamanders hurrying away. It was really exciting.  I could tell the snake was a blacksnake. The were various grubs, worms, snails and slugs. I took notes about the creatures I found on my smart phone.

A thunderstorm broke out and I hurried back to the small house.  It was a big storm and lasted for hours.  I decided to spend the night there. I texted my brother to let him know of my plans. We had a small cabin there and I settled in for the night. It was sparsely furnished but contained bedding, canned food and dog food.