3124. Life as we know it © Bruce Goodman 22 February 2025

They (the man in the garden shop) said to work the soil quite deep before sowing carrot seeds. Carrots need space to grow their roots down, so Caitlin was turning over the soil in her garden as deep as she imagined a carrot would need. She had never grown carrots before. In fact she had never grown much in the garden before; certainly not vegetables. Hard times call for drastic measures and Caitlin thought that growing a few vegetables might save a little money in the long run. She had almost finished digging her carrot patch (to be fair her carrot patch wasn’t huge for who needs hundreds of carrots?) when the spade hit something solid. She thought it was a large rock and bent down to remove it. But it wasn’t a rock; it was a small metal casket. The casket seemed to be sealed. There was no lid. Caitlin took it inside and washed it in the bathroom basin. It was dull metal, perhaps pewter, and intricately decorated. She left it on the table in the dining room and went out to sow the carrots. Mission accomplished! Caitlin returned to the house. Curiosity got the best of her. She began to prise open the casket. In fact, a piece fell off the side. There was nothing inside. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story