This week on Adam and the Ants:
We spent a few minutes putting away tools, then Mr. M asked me to pull some storage crates out from under the bench and sweep out the sawdust and cobwebs. I pulled out the crates and Mr. M started knocking off dust and cobwebs with a whisk broom. I started to reach under the bench with the broom, and a movement in the shadows caught my eye. When I realized what it was, I stopped cold.
Ants!
A half dozen black carpenter ants, just like the ones I had captured for my ant farm, were milling around in the corner by the bench's leg. I cast a quick glance behind me. Mr. M was still whisking dust off the crates and hadn't noticed anything— yet. I turned my attention back to the ants, wondering if I should tell Mr. M about them or not. If I didn't tell him, they could damage his home. If I told him, he would want to kill them. Ordinarily, that would be the easy choice to make. But Mr. M might ask me to help with the extermination— and these ants were likely related to the ones in my room, the ones which were a constant source of peace and calm over the last two stressful months.
"You guys shouldn't be here," I mumbled under my breath. "It's not safe for you here." One ant broke from the group, turning toward me and coming out a few tiny ant steps into the light. It looked up at me, twitching its antennae in— defiance?
I'm out of town the rest of the week, heading to NOLA for some pre-Mardi Gras festivities. Chapter 8 is queued for posting Thursday. Hopefully I've gotten the formatting issues straightened out!
This week's song is What's Love Got To do With It by Tina Turner. The Adam and the Ants 'soundtrack' is available for free listening on Spotify at http://bit.ly/13U48s1