Monday September 1
News today has come of a massacre in the apartment of Rachel Auerbach, a woman friends describe as “nice – you wouldn’t expect this of her.” Worms in her “beloved” worm bin fled its environs last night in search of a better life, only to dry to their deaths on her kitchen floor. As she knelt to tend the bin this morning, she wondered at their shapes on the linoleum, only to realize that she knelt in a field of death.
“I had no clue they were so unhappy” stated Rachel in a press conference this afternoon. “Those worms meant the world to me – literally, I thought that with them, I could do my part to help the planet regain some of its fertility and fecundity. They worked tirelessly towards their goal, sacrificing every day. But I guess I just didn’t see the signs. Fewer mature worms, slower composting…I should have known.”
The remaining worms, of which there were few, had difficulty speaking about the horrendous events of the past week. “The bin has been drying out for a while now, and frankly, Rachel’s been pretty bad about giving us new bedding. She’s violated our rights on multiple occasions, and if it were up to us, we would have gotten someone else to tend house a long time ago. We can’t afford any more time with her in charge.”
The worms have steadily graded down Rachel’s performance on vermissues since arriving under her care in mid-April. To begin with, they rated her highly, just shy of 100%, saying that “she still has some things to learn, but we trust that she’ll get better with some tough on the job training.” Last month, they began to seriously organize for change, but they said that despite giving her a low approval rating of 54%, she didn’t listen to their pleas.
Rachel admits to turning away from the worms in their time of need. “It’s been busy around here. My plants aren’t doing so well either, and I’ve had a lot of other things to take care of. But, if only I had heard them, I would have done anything for those worms. I just did’t really know what they needed.”
A service will be held this evening in honor of the worms. Steps are being taken to amend for the mistreatment so that any remaining worms will not meet the same fate.