The Hunt

The Hunt ©
The sudden spring shower earlier that evening was enough to get them moving. The grass felt damp on my hands and knees as I crept along in total silence with my flashlight. Above me was my second grade classroom, and directly above that was my older brother, Richard’s fourth grade room. I was in the front lawn of one of the oldest elementary schools in Dubuque. Audubon was probably one of the oldest schools in all of Iowa.
In my seven brief years of life I had come to know each and every square foot of Audubon playground. In the dark that evening in 1957, I was learning every square inch of the front lawn. My heart raced with excitement but my eyes were focused on the moment. I felt every muscle tighten in my little body as I crawled on all fours. It was the first time I had been invited to go night crawler hunting with my brother, Richard.
I looked behind as if to seek approval from him each time I dropped a juicy, slimy, seven-inch worm into the once empty, three-pound Folger’s coffee can. I saw Richard’s light at the far end of the lawn by the flagpole near Johnson Street and imagined he was having as much success as I was with the hunt.
I poked and prodded at my half-filled can and knew my brother would be proud of me. He could once again set his wooden sign against the front of our house at 617 Lincoln Avenue that read “Night Crawlers 25¢ a dozen.” A few days earlier he had sold the last of his stash to a fisherman.
I felt the eerie quiet of the evening. And that was strange because Audubon was anything but quiet in the daytime. Hundreds of children from surrounding neighborhoods played at Audubon year round.  The playground was the place where I learned to play baseball. In winter we played basketball on the snow-covered ground that earlier in the year was center field.
Every summer, the Dubuque Recreation Department offered playground activities for children of all ages. We played foursquare, tetherball, horseshoes, and Ping-Pong. We had coloring contests, played word games and assembled puzzles. Relay races and individual sprints prepared us for the all-city track meet. Those meets were a great training start for me becoming the fastest sprinter in all of Dubuque County while in high school.
Suddenly, a night crawler slid across the back of my hand and brought me back to the night. I lifted it with my fingers and dropped it into my can. That evening was a special time and place for me. And still is.

David N. Nelson