Ant-Woman

She is not just a woman, she is an ant-woman. She says she can’t stand the sun and its rays. There are thousands and thousands of layers of dark upon her shoulders. She is not afraid of the light though, nor of the warmth of the sun. In fact, she is not afraid of anything, not even the humans.

When I asked her why she wore so many layers of old clothes and how come she was not hot, she replied that as soon as she saw the sunbeams she would run for the cover, hiding in the grass or bushes.

“The light is breaking me and I have to run for cover into the bushes, grass, and concrete.”

Everyone thinks she is crazy but not I. I can see something in her. She looks like a human being but in reality, she is an ant. That’s what she has been all her life. No real teeth, no home, no man to call her husband. Always alone but never lonely. Always alone but surrounded by people and nature. Nature was always her true friend. Except for the sun.

Not that the sun is her enemy. far be it from that.  It just makes her eyes shed water, salty water called the tears. That’s her. “The sun and its light are breaking me, pushing me to the ground and I have to crawl and run for the cover. now see that light on the west and how warmly it glows as it sets behind those tree branches. I can see the light now, but only when it sets, and that makes me happy. Oh, yeah, and in the morning too. That’s all for today.”

Then she walks away cursing life, the sun, the moon, and people who cut trees and lay concrete in their stead. There are too many concrete-laying people in this world. They should make themselves useful and lay eggs instead. They cut or burn down forests and destroy oceans. Too many destroyers and fewer and fewer builders and nurturers. 

I watch go off into the wood and disappear among the bushes. And I envy her boldness to live on her own, without a dog even, or a penny to her name, going to her ant’s nest where her ant friends are waiting for her to tell them all about how to keep humans away.

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