Young Writers Society

Biryn was so tired of people coming onto his property. He hoped it was a false alarm. Maybe an animal had triggered it. Or maybe someone had wandered past and then noticed his Posted: Keep Out signs and, well, kept out.

And yet something in his gut doubted that was the case.

Maybe he should put up a fence. The signs clearly weren’t cutting it.

At the moment, the spider was crouched beneath one of the three twigs Hunter had provided. She was feeding on one of the crickets he had dropped into the jar for her the day he caught her, working slowly at grinding the body down with her chelicerae, legs drawn up against her body.
"Can it get out?" Monty asked nervously.
"Nope." Hunter shook his head. "The airholes are too small. And I feed her through this wax paper flap." He pointed to the flap on the lid of the jar. "She's not gonna hurt you."
"Looks like she could use a bigger living space," Bean observed. "Why don't you take her home and use your brother's old turtle terrarium?"
"Cuz my mom'd actually pass out if I kept a spider in the house," he replied. "Especially since this one's so venomous."

Biryn sighed as he saw the kids crouching down, doing gods knew what mischief. Were they drinking? Doing drugs? Gods, he hated teenagers. He was still too far away to tell who it was exactly but he was making a beeline straight for them.

Bean heard him first and turned at the sound of snapping twigs. She shot to her feet. "Guys!"
Monty was already off the moment she spoke, and Hunter shoved the jar into his pocket before bolting. Bean followed quickly, glancing back over her shoulder. Shit shit shit....

Biryn narrowed his eyes and sped up. This was as good as an admission of guilt. They clearly knew they weren’t supposed to be here. “Hey!”

Bean ran faster.
"Shit," Hunter yelled, clutching his pocket to keep the jar still as he ran.
Monty was falling behind quickly; with his shorter legs he couldn't keep up. Bean slowed so she could help him.

Biryn swung around to be sure he wouldn’t hit them but was doing his best to head them off.

Monty stumbled, and Bean scooped him up onto her back. Hunter was well ahead of them now.

Biryn decided to let the boy go and cut off the girl and her brother. He came to an abrupt stop, directly in their paths. “Stop running.”

Bean skidded to try and avoid crashing into him, but the weight of her brother pulled her down and she and Monty both crashed to the ground with a thud. Monty was up and ready to run again, but Bean was winded and lay there, stunned.

Biryn stepped off his Gator swiftly to stalk over to them, expression pissy. “And what in the hell were you kids doing?”

"Nothing," Monty said stubbornly, puffing out his chest as he stood in front of his sister. "Go away!"
Bean coughed and managed to sit up. Great. Their parents would probably ground both of them now.

Biryn raised an eyebrow, looking at him coldly. “This is my property — which is why I want to know what the hell you two think you’re doing on it. You’re liabilities to my insurance. Can’t you read? It’s posted clear as day: keep out.”

Monty faltered, looking toward his sister for help. Bean was on her feet now.
"We were just goofing around," she replied firmly. "We didn't realize we'd trespassed, okay?"

“No, it’s not okay,” he countered, turning his gaze on her. “‘Goof around’ somewhere else where you’re not my problem.”