A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)

by Becky Chambers

but it is our wish to leave your cities entirely, so that we may observe that which has no design—the untouched wilderness.

It was here that you’d find the resourcefulness of rot, the wholeness of fungi. Disturbing these lives through digging was a violence—though sometimes a needed one, as demonstrated by the birds and white skunks who brashly kicked the humus away in necessary pursuit of a full belly.

Dex froze—butt out, hair dripping, heart skipping, whatever thoughts they’d been entertaining vanished forever.

Dex angled their head to give Mosscap a nod of you’re welcome, then stared at what they saw. “You’ve got a worm crawling through your, uh, neck parts.” “It’s a velvet leafworm, and yes, I know. It came up my arm after I brushed against a bush. It’s fine.” Dex watched with growing trepidation as the leafworm crept up and up, exploring with its long antennae, eventually slithering into the dark gap that led into Mosscap’s head. “Uh, Mosscap? It’s—” “Yes. It’s fine.”