The Worm

Smoke particles from a nearby bonfire blow through the copse at midnight. A boy shimmies up an oak tree to a branch eight feet above the ground, ties his rope securely around it and places his head inside the noose. A blackbird flies up into the canopy at the sound of cracking wood. Cold rain splashes softly against the ivy on the trunk of the oak tree. By the edge of the pond, a common frog opens her eyes and untucks her legs from under the swell of her body. Eighty eggs are laid by a house...