ERIKA ALIN

One afternoon in August, Anna joined her relatives to celebrate the opening of the crayfish season at her Uncle Johan’s house. They lowered cages around rocks in a stream and a few hours later had a bucket full of crayfish to cook with dill. 

That evening, Anna and her cousins ate crayfish at a table under an old oak. They wore hats and bibs with crayfish claws and competed to pile their plates the highest with empty shells. 

As the moon rose high over the hills, Anna happily sucked the sweet juice from claw after claw.