A Trench in the Earth

The gravel path outside offered no shelter from the falling dark, so I forced my way into the bramble beneath a low juniper bush. The soil here is damp and fragrant with decaying needles. Discovering a discarded rusted iron washer half-buried in the moss, I hauled it out and dragged its jagged circular edge through the black dirt. I carved a deep, unyielding boundary line directly across the earth. Any wandering insect foolish enough to breach this trench tumbled straight into the pit. This ditch is merely a prototype. The next trench I carve under this soil will bury that red-clad weakling entirely.