she used to walk out to the road at the end of town, put her arms and legs up to the sky and stretch out to reach all of the stars. the next summer it seemed like she would never have the chance to do it again, because of the locusts. everywhere in the town there were dead locusts covering the roads. locusts met their deaths on windscreens of cars and meshed inextricably into the grates of the trucks on the highway. the people in town stayed indoors most of the time because you could not go outside without breathing in or stepping on a locust. elderly people raised their eyebrows at the young as if they were receiving their penance. the middle-aged accepted the locusts as another weary feature of their lives. the young checked the weather on their phones and knew there was a 80% chance a rain storm would come and wash the locust carcasses away by next thursday.

Susie Anderson

Recording