The Magnificant

My love for ants probably started the day Vicky Kasgell, who lived down the road from me, got her first microscope. We ran around her property looking for things that would look cool under the lens. It turned out not many things look very interesting to seven-year-olds, but the insect wing we found looked pretty cool. Then I decided I wanted to see what an ant looked like. Problem was, ants don’t sit still very well so I crushed one and put it on the slide.

What I saw looking into the microscope will probably stay with me forever. It was as if I was looking down from the ceiling of a very white room, and lying on the very white floor was the ant’s body. Curled in foetal position was its crushed, disturbingly human figure. Understandably I never willingly killed ants ever again…except for when they got into my food. Nobody gets into my food.