Let me tell you about Truffle-bots.
They are small and brown. They kind of look like small chunks of dirt. You can tell them from real dirt and truffles by the tiny blue light that shines on their underside. They have no scent, except maybe a slight ozone-ish, electronic smell.
They are usually found in wooded areas.
They are covered by thousands of tiny flagella that work in a way that allows the Truffle-bot to bury itself just below the surface of the ground. There, they remain until their batteries need a charge. Then the flagella switch on to bring them back into the sunlight where miniature solar panels produce energy that satiates the hungry power cell.
If someone should happen to walk near a buried Truffle-bot, it will eject a strong filament that wraps around the unsuspecting victim’s ankles. This causes the victim to fall face-down onto the leaf-strewn carpet of the forest.
(If you had really good hearing, you would be able to perceive a small, electronic laugh from just below the surface.)
Sometimes, the woods are cleared and something new, something not natural, something made with human hands is built. Like soccer pitches.
But, just under the surface of the ground, the Truffle-bots remain hidden.
I know this for a fact.
I’ve watched soccer matches where a player will be going full-sprint, and suddenly, flat on his face on the turf.
We all would laugh and yell, “Sniper”!
But, if you listen very carefully…
they thrive on snow covered hiolls as well. Sometimes known as snow snakes.
LOL! Thanx, Beth!