Diatomaceous Earth

When the flea infestation began, we didn’t know quite what to do. So we pretended it was nothing. But Frolic kept itching and the little red bites increasingly freckled Mother’s legs. In a delayed counterattack, a fine dusting of white powder was applied to every last horizontal surface, including the desktop keyboard, the insides of my sneakers, and the dog’s sleeping body. Mother told us it was diatomaceous earth, meant to naturally dehydrate the fleas’ bodies. Months after the fleas died out and swollen bites subsided, the chalky white fallout of this war was left as evidence of their occupation.