I could see the dissolving remains of my date floating within its gelatinous body, eyes still wide open. It must have caught him by surprise but that didn't exactly surprise me being that he was from the city and arrived during their dormant season.
He never believed that the Trawlers were real, claimed all the photos were faked and it was all an elaborate prank against the newcomer. Looking back I'm surprised he hadn't been killed sooner, what with his fondness for long walks in the tall grass without checking for the worryingly familiar sight of those translucent torsos writhing their was across the old farmlands.
They're slow enough to not be an immediate threat from the front but anyone who's lived here a while knows the real danger comes from the proboscises they drag behind them - their namesake and main feeding strategy. Largest one found so far had a set that were twenty seven feet long, possibly longer but it gets hard to tell when they've got prey nestled in the lines,gradually being dragged towards the torso.
I never heard it get him, never saw him drop either. If I hadn't spotted his jacket in the Trawler's torso I might never have known for certain where he'd gone to. It was his idea to go for a romantic walk through the fields and to the beach on the other side, though I'd told him a dozen times that Trawler's had been seen in the area but I was ignored.
Won't be the last time a man ignores me but it'll be the last time he ignores me.
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