Marlene and the Hunters Beneath the Leaves

Early afternoon finds Marlene alone at the edge of the garden. She lifts a handful of damp leaf litter, keeping her palm cupped so the loose pieces will not fall. A leaf has softened to a brown mesh. Another still holds a bead of water along its curled edge.

Through the hand lens, the folds become deep places. She adjusts the distance until a broken vein comes into focus. Nothing she can confidently name moves across it.

That is not the same as nothing being there.

She imagines predatory mites passing beneath the overlapping leaves, along routes her small window of glass has not revealed. Many Mesostigmata hunt in soil and litter, feeding on tiny animals such as nematodes, springtails and other mites. This handful might contain both hunters and the creatures they seek. She cannot tell by looking, and leaves the possibility open.

For once, there is no reason to arrange what she sees for a better picture. The damp folds already have a use.

Marlene lowers her hand and lets the litter settle where she lifted it. One curled leaf catches against her finger; she eases it free rather than shaking it off. Then she stands, leaving the little layers on the ground, their inhabitants still unseen.