Countless Haints (Part 5)

A pair of tire tracks wound around the edge of the forest, leading in one direction towards the highway, and in the other towards the farm.  Wiry grass grew tall and wild between the ruts, and a half-dozen grasshoppers sprang through the brush, leaping ahead of Madi as she made her way home.

The bottoms of her feet felt swollen from briar sticks, and tiny cuts covered her ankles and calves, like a swarm of angry wasps knitted into a pair of stinging socks.  She'd stopped at the creek to clean ...