Some ants are stupid. They dive into a pool of vinegar and drowned. I happen to witness these stupid ants earlier this afternoon in my extreme boredom.
I was sitting on a chair in front of the dining table when I happen to see those bigger-than-the-usual red ants feasting over a cup of suka from our afternoon merienda: lumpiang “something”. My initial reaction was to play Ant Bully over these relentless creepy-crawlies just as I always delightfully do. So I crushed and smashed and snapped and squashed happily, enthusiastically, and joyfully with all my might. You should have seen the devilish grin on my lips and the diabolic look in my eyes while I indulge in that fun activity! When I finally got tired of bullying them, I rested for a while until I observed some of them diving into the cup of vinegar on the table. So I laughed. “Ang bobo naman nitong mga langgam na ‘to,” I exclaimed. It’s not that they dive in literally. They just lose their grip while sipping the vinegar and fall into it accidentally. Almost 50% of them who sipped fell into the vinegar and drowned, and I (the Ant Bully that I am) delightfully watched with glistening eyes and wide-opened mouth as I witness them squirm and fight for their poor little lives. Poor ants.
The lesson: ants get drunk in vinegar. So, ants… drink moderately.
***
When watching these stupid ants became boring, I shifted focus to our pet dog Lana’s three little pups. Believe me, this is one touching story, so brace yourself.
To begin with, allow me to introduce Lana to you. Yeah, her name’s Lana, our pet dog. (We got her name from Kristine Kreuk’s Smallville character, Lana Lang. I know she would seriously protest when she meets our dog Lana. Sorry.) She used to be totally black all over, but her fur’s a little bit turning into brown now. That’s what she got when black starts to fade. I guess it’s because of infrequent baths and exposure to sun, rain, storm, UV rays, El Niño, La Niña, dust, red ants, and anything and everything that the outside world has to offer. Lana is a long-legged dog. She has four long, slender legs, a disproportional long muzzle, and short drooping ears. I’m not even sure if her parents are real dogs. I guess she’s a hybrid of a horse and a premature giraffe. She jumps high and wags her tail so strongly. Totally monstrous, so even we used to be scared to get near her. Well, she used to stay inside the house when she was still a cute little black puppy. I’ve even mistaken her as a black Labrador when she was little, and we’ve seen her slowly transform into a Doberman as she grows bigger. Now I’m completely convinced that she’s totally Pinay and she’s no other than a black “Lagrador” or a “Doggerman” as Serg calls her. We ostracized her and resorted to tying her on a mango tree outside when she started sneaking out of the fence and began living her dream and fulfilling her destiny of eating kaning-baboy and nibbling on trash cans outside. Right now, Lana’s ribcage is so visible to the naked eye even from the outside; so visible that you can even count her ribs, identify joints, tendons, and ligaments, and bring her to school for your Biology class presentation. I also believe that she’s mentally retarded.
So Lana is faded black, horse-looking, and mentally retarded. And (sorry, I forgot) she’s stinky. In short, she’s a typical askal.
Lana almost meant nothing to us because of her unrefined breeding. But not until she gave birth to three cute babies… (Poor dog Max, he had to satisfy his man nature and contented himself with Lana. So Lana got preggy and miraculously gave birth to cute little puppies. Oh yeah. They’re cute. I know, I know. It is really hard to believe. I actually thought she’d give birth to little dinosaurs.)
Earlier this afternoon, I was watching in surprise how her three little babies eat solid food for the first time! They were ravaging the leftover noodles for Lana which my father gave. I saw poor, ugly and retarded Lana watches over her pups monstrously guzzle the food prepared for her. I know that at the moment, she’s also starving to death. Her ribcage reveals her dire need for food. But she didn’t budge! No, she didn’t even move to have even a taste of the food. I saw her looking at it, and I know that her mouth is watering as her tummy churns in serious starvation. But that’s all that she did – stare! My kuya even dragged her muzzle near the food twice and told her to eat with her babies but (guess what!) she refused! Oh man! That was the first time I ever saw her refuse! I can see that she’s sad and hungry at the same time, but she let her babies enjoy the food while she watched and contented herself with looking at her happy little girls. And when they finished eating, she began devastating the leftover food as expected. I saw Lana’s effort to contain her hunger for her little ones (and I know that it was indeed a serious struggle for her since she’s a certified PG). Awww… What a doting mother she is. Isn’t it heart-warming?
The moral: even retarded dogs know how to love and care for their loved ones. Do not judge. (Whatever!) Now my kuya plans to buy her her own dog food. Congratulations!
PS:
If you have been touched by Lana’s life story, you may send in your donations both in cash and in kind to our home. Contact me in my mobile number for more details or you may leave a comment after reading this post (but I recommend the latter). Thanks!
