Transporter (an Ell Donsaii story #16) by Laurence Dahners

Author:Laurence Dahners [Dahners, Laurence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

***

The Nature Learning class was gathered around the stream that crossed the property. Wearing rubber boots, a man named Gary Jonas was acting as Ms. Bakewell’s co-instructor for this exploration of aquatic life. They’d first gathered around a deep little pool and watched the small fish that inhabited it as they darted about.

Next Mr. Jonas took them to the edge of a fast-flowing area where he’d placed what he called a “glass boulder” consisting of a thick piece of plate glass with an inverted black plastic bowl glued on top of it. He’d cut a hinged door into the bowl and settled it on a bed of sand and gravel. All this had been in hopes of forming a perfect spot for a salamander to create a retreat. To his great satisfaction, a Necturus lewisi had burrowed under the boulder from the downstream side, shoveling out sand and gravel to build itself a den. Thus, they could open the door on the top of the bowl and peer in to view a “Neuse River Waterdog” in a nearly natural habitat—without disturbing it by turning over its rock.

Mr. Jonas did turn over a rock to show them one of the—very common—crayfish that lived in the streams of North Carolina. It backed away a bit, then lifted its pincers at them. Mr. Jonas laughed and said, “Look at him. He’s telling us to stay away from his place or he’s gonna pinch us.”

Wide-eyed, Olivia asked, “Would he do that?!”

Mr. Jonas nodded, “Frightened or mad, they’ll pinch you pretty good.”

“Does it hurt?!”

“Yeah, but remember not to pull them off yourself. When it happens, they’re scared to death of you. If you lower your pincered part back into the water, the crayfish’ll let go and take off, trying to get as far from you as it can.”

Though Zage was fascinated by the opportunity to view wildlife in their natural habitat, he couldn’t help also watching and observing Ms. Bakewell, who stood close to Mr. Jonas and touched him frequently. I think he’s her new boyfriend. He wondered what had happened to Mitch, her previous boyfriend. Or is she dating both of them? After all, he knew that, despite humans’ frequent proclamations that they were exclusively dating one another, they often failed to behave in a monogamous fashion. Perhaps she and Mitch haven’t declared themselves one-on-one. Maybe they’re both dating multiple people in an effort to find the best mates for each of them?

After pondering the question for a while, he decided not to ask her about it. She was embarrassed enough by my makeup question. I shouldn’t ask any more personal questions.

Ms. Bakewell let them walk the edges of the stream, peering into the water until some of the kids got bored and started acting up. Then she clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention and said, “Okay, this was fun! Time to start back to the pavilion.”

Zage still had his eyes on the crayfish. It’d abandoned its defensive stance and seemed to be digging in under another rock.

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