[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions]

[Tess’s Almanac: 21st day of Summer! 70 days until the Summer Festival. All things considered, today should be a good one! Low winds, moderate temperatures. The next week’s gonna be a series of scorchers, so enjoy your time outside while you can!]

Jason rose from bed, feeling more than a little weary. He made his way over to the window and gazed out upon his field, which was looking sickly, to say the least. Lady already had her head out through the stable window, and tossed and flicked it in annoyance. He grimaced, then opened the window just a bit. The buzzing noise was louder today, and he sighed. He quickly changed into his overalls, then bolted down the stairs at a slow trot.

The cookbook flapped its pages in annoyance as he walked past the kitchen, threw on his boots, and marched out into the yard. Lady looked up at him gratefully, and he soon took her out of the stable and hitched her up. That done, he walked into the lean-to and picked up the jug of chemical. It sloshed about as he cracked the lid open, and a distinctly chemical-y smell filtered up into the air. It turned his nose with just that little whiff, though he did have to admit that he could detect the faintest hint of wildflower amidst the chemicals, which was a nice touch.

His original intent after buying the stuff had been to go start spraying that very day, but he had gotten halfway home before realizing that he had forgotten to buy anything to actually spray it with. As such, he had been forced to go back to buy a backpack sprayer, which was quite heavy and more than a little awkward. As he filled it with the odd chemical, then lifted it to his back, he felt rather like some sort of mad scientist. The thought filled him with a great deal of delight, and he quickly marched out and climbed over the fence into his field.

“Alright, Juun Bugs!” He grinned and pointed the nozzle of the sprayer at the crops. If this worked, he would have to go back, buy more of the chemical any a larger sprayer, but for the time being, this would be an adequate test. He squeezed down on the trigger and a blast of spray came out, showering the nearby crops. The jug didn’t exactly say how much to put on, so he just started walking through the crops, spraying rather wantonly.

By that point, the shoots were about six inches high, and the stalks were rather firmly developed. At least… They should have been about six inches high. Some of them were actually that tall, but the majority were a good bit shorter, chewed to bits by the Juun bugs. Even as he watched, dozens of the creatures swarmed about on the crops, biting and chomping and chewing. A particularly large sprig of wheat had no fewer than six Juun bugs sitting on it, and he quickly pointed the nozzle directly at it. The spray came out with a blast… And all six Juun bugs leapt up and began to buzz about in the sky.

That, of course, was when he remembered Paulina’s admonition that they only bit people when they were upset.

As he turned to run, he came to the conclusion that the Juun bugs weren’t upset because the chemical was actually working, as much of the area that he had sprayed seemed to be covered in more Juun bugs, not fewer. No, he supposed that they were only mad because they were wet. He could only hope that they flew slower, perhaps, when they had been doused with spray.

He soon discovered that they did not.

All six of them quickly landed on his arms and legs. One of them scuttled up onto the back of his neck, and he frantically slapped at it. He was too late. Pain flared as pincers began chomping on him across his body, and he let out a frantic yelp. Desperately, he threw off the backpack and bolted.

That was when he discovered a second, rather fascinating fact about the Juun bugs. It was later confirmed by reading Paulina’s book, and was, essentially, that when they began to feed on something (or detected a threat), individual Juun bugs released chemicals that attracted other Juun bugs to their position. In that moment, Jason must have lit up like a beacon, and dozens of Juun bugs from all across the field came swarming toward him.

The bugs began to bite up and down his body, and he leapt over the fence and ran frantically toward the farmhouse. He was able to beat away most of them, then went crashing inside and slammed the door shut to prevent any more from following. He then (as there were several more that were still chewing away at him) raced up the stairs and dove into the shower with all his clothes on. That time, the deluge of water managed to wash them away, and as they lay flailing on the floor of his tub, he rather mercilessly stomped each one of them into goop.

That done, he changed out of his soaking clothes and into a fresh pair of overalls. As he did so, he couldn’t help but notice that his entire body was covered in welts, and he groaned as he pulled on the new pair of clothes. He groaned even more when he realized that he did still have work to get done that day.

When he stepped back out onto the porch, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and made his way back over to the field. His bottle of spray was still there, as were the Juun bugs. Some of them had even started crawling around on the bottle, mocking him, and he scowled at them.

This time, before he picked up the bottle, he put on a thick pair of gloves, then added a thick, leather coat that he had been given at some point in the past, likely by Jeremiah. It was swelteringly hot, but with luck, it would keep out the Juun bugs.

As it turned out, Juun bugs like the taste of leather.

Once more, he bolted for the shower, washed himself off, and regarded his new set of welts with something akin to worry. He didn’t know for sure if Juun bugs were venomous, but he couldn’t imagine that being bitten so many times was good for him, and he made a mental note to go visit Theresa. Once again, he changed clothes, then headed out into the field for the third time.

“Surely I’ll get it this time.” He muttered. “Maybe…”

A thought began to swirl around in the back of his mind. When he retrieved the sprayer, he cast a long look back at the area he had already sprayed. Unless it was his imagination, the wheat there actually had more bugs than the areas around it. He sighed, then climbed over the fence and started walking along the side of the field, spraying the prairie grass around his property. Maybe, if the chemical was attractive to them, he could entice them to leave his field alone!

When he ran dry, he couldn’t tell for sure if it had actually had any effect. There was a lot of field, and a lot of Juun bugs. While a handful certainly were buzzing through the sprayed prairie grass now, it was a certainty that it wasn’t enough of them. He needed a better option, and he needed it quickly.

Finally, he simply returned to the main portion of the farmstead, grabbed a broom out of a storage shed, raised it over his head, and charged into the field. In retrospect, it had been a roundly terrible idea, but… He was frustrated, and it did feel rather good to whack them out of the sky as if he were playing baseball. He could only imagine that when they chomped into his flesh, it felt just as good.

When he staggered out of that third showed, his body was covered in so many welts that he hardly recognized himself. He groaned in pain as he pulled a new set of clothes over his body and staggered into the kitchen for lunch.

He ate only a small meal, then made his way outside, climbed up on Lady, and wearily began to ride toward town. Theresa was going to give him all sorts of heat for repeatedly running into such a situation, but he didn’t really care. If it would get rid of the things, he would have readily done so yet again.

The only question, of course, was just how to get rid of the things. Finally, though, he forced it out of his mind. Paulina would come up with something… And, if not, he was sure that Tess could come up with a way to firebomb the whole prairie. In any event, he wasn’t worried. One way or another, they would come up with a way to solve the problem. He was sure of it.