The Monster

I’m falling!

I was on the way back to the construction site when I lost my footing.

And now I’m falling!

Sliding! 

Sliding!

I can’t slow down! The grade is too steep. The soil is so soft. It is like powder.  Really, like powder.  There is no way to get a grip or any other kind of traction. So I slide.  My velocity increasing.

Until…Bam! I hit the bottom.

I right myself.  A precautionary shake to remove the dust.

Behind me I hear a noise. Turning toward the noise I observe the dust moving.  There something behind the wall of dust…and it is big. 

In a cloud of dust it comes toward me.  Actually, charged would be a better description of its action.

I have never seen anything like it. It had huge barbed pincers extended from either side of its abbreviated neck. The small eyes seemed to look right through me. In a fleeting moment I realized that I am the victim. Before I can move, my head is held in the pincers as the tongue bores through my skull with a pop.

I feel as though my very being was being removed by some huge vacuum pump.

Darkness is coming quickly as my life is leaving me.

The last thing I remember before I succumb in total darkness is the sound of children singing.

“Doodlebug! Doodlebug! Come out of your hole!”

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Doodlebug is the familiar name for the lion faced ant. It is quite small and builds a trap for it's victims. The trap is found frequently under houses in the fine soil or dust and is about two inches in diameter and one inch deep.  After building the trap the doodlebug hides at the bottom of the trap awaiting a victim, usually an ant. The ant falls into the conical trap and can't escape. The pincer armed lion ant attack the ant which is smaller and pierces its body and sucks out the inner parts of the insect. Only the exoskeleton is left.