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<strong>The</strong> Ants<br />
Keith G. Laufenberg<br />
-1-<br />
THE INVASION<br />
When they came to the Valley of the Ants, an ant said: ‘Go into<br />
your dwellings, ants, lest Solomon and his warriors should crush<br />
you.’<br />
—<strong>The</strong> Koran.<br />
Betty Ross looked at her husband and could not fathom his<br />
unbridled anger, as he glared at the mass of small ants<br />
scurrying over the cupboards and kitchen table. <strong>The</strong>y had gotten<br />
onto the left-over dinner plates and then inside the cupboard,<br />
where the sugar container, which was a supposedly insect-proof<br />
Tupperware Bowl had been totally infiltrated by the small red<br />
balls of fury. “Good Gawd Betty—do you believe this—the little<br />
devils are everywhere. I’m gonna make this my first priority, to<br />
kill these bastards!” Stephen Ross, an aerospace engineer at<br />
nearby Lockheed Martin, in Marietta, shook his head sadly. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
had just moved into a new house in the country and he had given<br />
no thought to the insect population, until now.<br />
“Well Stephen I’m sure there’s no need to kill them.”<br />
“Wha’ … Betty—oh, right—well—ain’t that just like you. You<br />
don’t think there’s any need to kill these buggers? Are you<br />
crazy Bet’? Look—look?” Ross spread his hands out, palms up then<br />
moved them furiously back and forth around the room, signifying<br />
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