The Ants and the Tricycle

Once upon a time, in a far away place (unless you are somewhere close to the place of which I speak) there was a little boy who was very adventuresome. He used to wander all over and did not seem to know the meaning of the word fear. Of course he probably didn't know the meaning of too many words because he wasn't reading yet! But I digress.

This particular summer he spent a lot of time in the field next to his home. There were all kinds of fine things that would interest a lad such as he. There were rocks and weeds and lizards and horned toads and ants. Lots of ants. The big black and red ants. Especially big when viewed through the eyes of such a small boy.

They were so industrious! Laboring deep in the earth to loosen each piece of gravel or sand and wind back to the top to deposit it somewhere around the hole. He watched from the edge of the pile. Fascinated by their movements. Occasionally he would pick up a twig and poke at the ants who had wandered away from the entrance to the nest. He was not afraid of these creatures - just curious.

One day he grew bored of watching and a streak of meanness ran up and down his back. He went back to his yard and found his tricycle and headed out to the field. It was rough going but he was strong. He knew exactly what he was going to do but had no inkling of why. With no hesitation he ran the front wheel of the trike right over the main entrance to the nest!

He sat there, staring down at the closed hole that was under him. He watched the confusion as those outside tried to find and clear the way to get back to the nest. He was so engrossed in the action that he did not notice the ants climbing up his wheels and over the frame of the nice red tricycle. In fact, it wasn't until the third or fourth ant began biting him that he realized it hurt!

He was now as confused as the ants on the hill. Instinctively he got off the trike and started screaming! The ants on the ground were stirred up by his feet movements. Finally the whole nest began to empty out and move up his legs biting as they went. It didn't take his mother too long to respond to his hysterical yells. In no time she and a neighbor had managed to clear all the ants off him and remove most of his clothes. In short order she had him in the bathtub and was applying cornplasters over his entire body to try to relieve some of the pain.

He recovered, as most kids do from their misadventures, a little wiser. First, he had learned that you shouldn't stir up the nest and stick around to watch the fireworks. Secondly, if you start feeling a little pain don't get off the trike but start pedaling like crazy. And lastly, don't mess with a gang when you're outnumbered!

-- Michael Rusk