Starting with the end of the story, first.

My brother once played a joke on me when he asked me one day; "Wanna hear the shortest story ever told?" "Sure!", I piped back as I looked up at him enthusiastically.  Even though, I was younger than he was by 7 years, I still could tell something wasn't going to be straight about his answer. "It goes like this," he started; "Once upon a time, there was an end!" Ha! Ha! We did both laugh. That was the silliest thing I had ever heard. Until now, it had no meaning.

The End of this story is; Here is the compost heap, now.  Here is what should be the last picture, first.

The old heap was piled with mostly heavy sod clumps, old tomato vines, and cabbage leaves from the garden. It sat in the middle of the back part of the garden which had been at the end of the garden before the new fence was put up this past spring. Now, the heap was blocking a clear path from one side of the garden to the other. Not only that, it was next to a bee's nest which was discovered when my dear and willing son took on the task to move the old wire fencing that also surrounded this old heap which had to be moved first.
Cleverly, the bees must have found an old rabbit hole and made house in it. They were well hidden during the summer when fence row grasses and goldenrods covered their ground level hideout. When the old fence was pulled up over their hole, they got so riled up that they shot out with the intent to attack anything in site. People went leaping off and bees went whizzing off in frantic directions. It was awful and it took the bees the rest of that day to settle down. The bee stings took longer than that to settle. Oweee! Their sting hurts so intensely.
Anyway, I thought if I could move the heap to the back northeast corner of the garden, it would be the ideal place for it. Being November, the bees were dormant, so digging around them, now, and moving old wire fencing wouldn't be a problem.

 The heap was originally over waist high. I knew it would be a physically demanding job because it was made up of mostly our heavy clay sod clumps. Though, with the garden cart and my pitch fork in hand, I was ready to take on the project. I started by taking off bits of sod and stems from the top of the heap.  I loaded the cart, then took it to the corner about another 15 ft away. Not far. Then, I would do it again and again. Taking from the top reduced the heavy lifting of the sod clumps. I could only take one bit at a time. Slowly, I got closer to the bottom where I could push the pitch fork into the clumps a little deeper because they had started to break down. Then it happened.

Down went the pitch fork, then out and up it went with the composted sod clumps, as I had before. But, not this time. I stared in disbelief. I couldn't believe my eyes at what I had just done. For there skewered by my pitch fork was a mouse! I had blindly and unknowingly bludgeoned a mouse! My mouth dropped. Still in disbelief I edged him off and settled him outside the garden into a bed of leaves. I shook my head. How could I have done such a thing? Me?

I thought to myself, if someone told me that I would get a $1,000 bucks if I could throw my pitch fork into this compost pile and get a mouse with it, I would NEVER be able to make it happen. It wouldn't be. Not because I don't want to skewer a mouse, but because I'm a lousy shot. I would just keep missing or something like that. So, I realized that this was a one time thing and that I really needed to try and let it go. Innocence is virtuous. I truly didn't mean to get the mouse like that. So, I tried to feel better, and got back to my job. Cart load, after card load, I worked through the pile as the sun was falling from the autumn sky. The last slanted rays of the mid-November sun fell on this upper end of the garden. There was the pungent smell of the fallen leaves in the damp grass and sounds of crows taking to wing with that old familiar "caw" caaaaw." It was a beautiful late afternoon.

But, then  you wouldn't believe what happened next.
I did it again! Yes, I did it again! Nooo! How could I do this?? I was completely stunned. This is absolutely impossible! Simply, unheard of.
(I could have made $2,000 bucks,too!)

So, this second little mouse was laid to rest with its family member. Leaves and grasses covered them both outside of the garden where you see the pitch fork in the picture.( That pitch fork looks nasty, doesn't it?) But, who would know what could lie within a compost pile? I, honestly, had NO idea! Now, it seems obvious.

The heap has been moved. It is in its better place. The mice are in their "better" place. The pitch fork has been put back into the shed, and so has the garden cart.
The bees are in their place and they will be down in there for the entire winter.
 (Their hole is marked by the sticks and with one that fell across it.)

The story is about one old tangled wire fence, one hidden bee's nest, two bee stings, two pitch forked mice, and one old compost pile that needed to be moved to the corner of the garden.

This is the story about the end.