A haystack is a large pile of dried grasses or legumes used as fodder for livestock. In rural settings, it's often stacked loosely in fields or barns to store feed through winter. Noteworthy: Farmers use hay forks to build them; they provide insulation but risk spontaneous combustion if wet.
Golden straws poke from the bundled hay stack, rough and prickly underfoot, their earthy scent mingling with faint dust motes swirling in the breeze. Shadows pool between the tightly tied bales, hiding nooks where mice skitter unseen. Sun-bleached tips sway gently, whispering of harvested fields now barren.