Dear God,
As I lounged on my sitout, engrossed in the captivating world of my smartphone, I suddenly became aware of a flurry of activity beneath me.
A bustling ant party was in full swing, right at my feet. I observed them with mild curiosity, contemplating whether to let them carry on undisturbed or crash their tiny party.
After a brief mental debate, I concluded that since they weren’t bothering me, there was no need for me to bother them. So, I adopted a hands-off attitude and let the tiny merrymakers be.
But, as luck would have it, they soon decided to extend their festivities to my personal space, making a beeline for my unsuspecting feet.
Hmmm. 1st button.
I stomped out my feet, in an attempt to scare them and also get them off me…
Error.
Maybe the sound of the stomp angered them or scared them….however they judged it, it inadvertently triggered what seemed like a full-scale ant uprising. They swarmed up my legs with a ferocity that belied their miniature size. They were sending me a message, size or not, they were not to be trifled with.
2nd Button.
I beat them down, and I guess the impact killed a few of them. It wasn’t my intention to kill anyone of them, I just wanted to get them off me.
I felt bad, I didn’t want trouble, I just wanted some peace with my phone.
They came back again on my feet, racing all over my legs. The next instance, they were on my lap.
(I was wearing a short and a Tee)
3rd Button.
Before I could say “Jack”, I felt the craziest sting as one or two dug their sharp weapon into my skin.
I screamed and jumped up. I looked down at them and the few tens of ants playing around my feet had turned to thousands.
I didn’t think, I just reacted.
I beat off the few on my legs and lifted my right leg, landed it straight at them and drew a clockwise circle with my feet.
That action alone took out hundreds in a roll.
I returned the leg, lifted the left and repeated the action in an anti-clockwise play.
That action cleared the remaining tens and the rest scattered out.
I wasn’t done, I followed the few scattering around and kept stomping on them in twos and threes.
This continued for over five minutes, I was sweating.
As I battled the relentless attack, I couldn’t help but marvel at the ants’ tenacity. They regrouped and charged at me with a determination that bordered on the absurd.
After some time, I paused and stared at the mass of dead ants before me.
How many were they? Despite my efforts to repel them, they persisted in their dare-to-die mission, seemingly oblivious to the mounting casualties. It was a baffling display of collective recklessness.
Where are they coming from? Why won’t they stop?
I realised that as soon as I was done with the few I could see, more raced towards me.
Are they blind?
Can’t they see that I have killed so many of them and that there is no way they will win this battle?
Why are they coming right back to the same spot where so many have met their death?
These ants must be Nigerians, repeating the same errors over and over again even if it was killing them all.
What a clear definition of stupidity!
As I pondered their inexplicable behaviour, I couldn’t help but wonder about their leadership.
Who was calling the shots here? And what dubious advice were they following?
But just when I thought I had vanquished the tiny invaders, they surprised me yet again.
Instead of retreating, they regrouped and plotted their next move with military precision.
It was both awe-inspiring and slightly terrifying.
The shock was that they were not running away from me, they were running towards me.
How? Who does that?
What are they willing to die for? What are they defending?
I sat and watched the few ones alive as they scouted around for a while.
They kept circling, talking to each other and regrouping…
I wondered what they were saying to each other.
Are they crying? Mourning? What next could they be planning?
I watched carefully to see if I could follow their trend of thoughts.
They will come from all over, circle to the middle where the other dead ants lay, touch base with each other and disappear behind a corner.
That was when I noticed the corner. There was a hole and they must all live there.
I went into the house to get a bottle of spray.
Let this fight continue….it’s my house for crying out loud!
By the time I came back with the flit, I realised that I couldn’t find any ants at the battleground. I looked at the corner and what I saw left me speechless.
The whole colony of the ants were relocating. They were in all sizes, pretty tiny, small and medium.
Multiple ants were coming out of the hole and climbing through the wall out of the place. Some were carrying tiny food particles. What shocked me the most was the order in which they were relocating. Organized, controlled and in distinct lines.
I raised my hand to spray the flit on them but relented and brought it down again.
Even as an opponent, I couldn’t help but have some respect for the discipline and order that I saw.
And then the message hit me again…
“Go to the ants…..consider their ways and be wise….”
In a flash of clarity, I realized that these ants were more than just pests—they were survivors.
Their coordinated retreat spoke volumes about their resilience and adaptability. It was a lesson in survival that I couldn’t help but admire, albeit grudgingly.
As I watched them relocate with a sense of purpose that would put most humans to shame, I couldn’t bring myself to unleash further destruction upon them. Instead, I marvelled at their ingenuity and resolved to let them go in peace.
And so, armed with newfound respect for my tiny adversaries, I watched as they disappeared into the distance, leaving behind a trail of lessons learned and questions unanswered.
As I reflected on the day’s events, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret for the lives lost in the heat of battle. But perhaps, in their tiny way, those ants had taught me something invaluable about resilience, teamwork, and the indomitable spirit of survival.
Go to the ants indeed. Consider their ways and be wise.
They had plan B.
They were ready, once they knew they were losing the battle, they upped and left, with everything including food.
And they did it with such precision.
As I swept the fallen soldiers from the battlefield, I couldn’t help but wonder what awaited them at their new destination.
Would they celebrate their victory in escaping or mourn their fallen heroes?
Who knows?
So, I decided to sweep up the bodies of their comrades altogether and deposited them close to the new hole they passed through.
Maybe, just maybe, they will come for them…….
This is Your daughter, Lord, I am checking in, wiser….. for the ants.
1 Comment
@Will they celebrate victory…. “He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day’. So yes, they will celebrate. And they will mourn. Circle of life, innit?:)