Bookmark


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Striding into the library to do some research on a case, Sam was bewildered by the sight of Castiel standing with his back to the room, staring at a bookcase. The hunter hesitated – unusual behavior normally meant a spell or a threat of some kind. He looked around, then coughed loudly and stepped further into the library.

"Uh, Cas? What, uh, what are you doing, buddy?"

The angel glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, hello, Sam." He turned back to the bookshelf. The angel's vessel began to tilt oddly to one side, his body as well as his eyes trailing after whatever he was seeing. "I am following the path of these ants, in an attempt to determine either their origin or their intended destination."

Ants? Sam walked over to investigate.

There on the second-to-the-top shelf of the bookcase was indeed a jaunty line of ants. They crawled after one another in a parade of little black bodies and spindly legs, content in the pursuit of some purpose. Sam could almost hear their little mandible clacking out the ant rendition of "Whistle While You Work."

Sam joined Castiel in bending down and following their determined march back to its point of origin. The line traced from the shelf, down the side of the bookcase, across the floor to the armchair in the library alcove, and through a crack in the brick wall.

"Huh." Sam straightened up and turned back to the bookshelf. "We've never had ants in the library before. The kitchen and the garage, sure. But the library?"

"We may not know the reason behind their visit, but they certainly do." Cas replied in that oddly serene, kumbaya tone that the angel adopted whenever talking about bees or the wonders of the natural world. "We need only follow them to learn what it is."

Sam and Castiel crowded against the bookcase together, peering at the parade. With his finger, Sam traced the ants along the shelf, careful not to touch any or disturb their progress.

The ants disappeared underneath the spine of one of the books on the shelf.

"The Role of Grandmother Spider in Indigenous Textile Art?" Cas inquired, as Sam carefully lifted up the book and slid it off the shelf. The ants at the end of the parade became disorientated and began to crawl in circles, creating confusion further on down the line as the message that their intended destination had suddenly vanished was shared with their cohorts. "Why would ants be interested in that, I wonder?"

Sam couldn't keep himself from awkwardly huffing. "Uh, I think there might be something else here that they're interested in."

Ignoring the one or two ants crawling over the cover of the book, Sam cracked open the tome. A small flurry of ants escaped out over the pages –

– and a plastic-wrapped slice of sandwich cheese fell out.

It landed with a fhwap on the floor between their feet. Sam and Castiel stared down at it.

Lumpen and pockmarked, slicked with slime, sprouting white mold blossoms. The sleeve at the top was open just enough to serve as an ant entrance. Between the cellophane and the decaying square of cheese, the little black body of an ant squirmed.

Disgust quickly replaced surprise and investigative inquiry.

Sam slammed the book shut and stormed out of the library.

"DEAN!"

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Dean definitely left that there by mistake. He was using it as a bookmark while making a sandwich and forgot. Based off of a tweet by the University of Liverpool Library.

Thanks for reading!

-The Demonologist In Denim