Bugs - Day 1

"Mommy, can I go out and play?"

"Sure honey. Just stay close. It looks like it might storm later."

"Thanks, Mommy."

Slam.

Heavy steps on the back porch -- well as heavy as a slender, 8 year old boy can make on his way to his next adventure.

"Man, looks at those ants."

Timmy loved ants. He loved all bugs, but especially ants. These were the little ants that didn't bite. He loved the big ones more, with their big pincher jaws, but the little ones were enough to grab his attention on this muggy August afternoon.

The ant trail took him out of his backyard into the woods. Timmy loved the woods. His mother didn't, ever since that thing happend earlier in the summer. Timmy wasn't allowed to go into the woods since that thing happened, but ant trails were ant trails, and they lead into the woods, and hey, he was just an 8 year old boy.

Timmy was a smart boy. Timmy knew a lot of things. But Timmy also didn't know a lot of things.

Timmy didn't know that the storm his mother mentioned would be so bad. Timmy didn't know that the ants he was following would lead him down such a dark pathway. Timmy didn't know that a pair of eyes had been focused on him ever since the back door slammed shut. And Timmy didn't know that the next five days would change the world around him so dramatically.

"Ouch!"

and the adventure really began.