HRJ and I lounged on the sofa, our bellies full from breakfast. My feet relaxed on the cool deep brown leather ottoman. HRJ lay across me, nursing quietly. His eyes growing heavy with the thoughts of his morning nap. My Padre and I chatted back and forth over the speaker phone.
My eyes moved around the room. I gazed out the window for a while, watching the leaves rustle softly in the trees. My attention then turned to the tv for a moment and then moved down to HRJ. I looked down at my sweet baby's out stretched neck and saw something black. I glanced again.
"What is that?" I said out loud.
I flicked it once. It wouldn't budge. I tilted my head down to get a closer look, it was an ANT ATTACHED to my son's NECK.
"Oh My Gawd." I screached to my Padre.
I flicked it again. It wouldn't move. It was implanted in his skin.
"I'm going to the neighbor's," I yelled and hung up the phone.
HRJ and I speed walked three doors down.
"Look at this!" I said as my neighbor answered her door.
We laid him on the sofa so she could get a good look. HRJ didn't make a sound or a movement. His neck was all red, the lone ant hung by his mouth off HRJ's skin. Have I mentioned that it was attached to his skin?
"I don't know," my neighbor said. "I've never seen that before. He isn't reacting so it musn't be hurting him."
I moved to the floor and laid him down again. I carefully flicked the ant a couple more times as to not leave any part attached. Was this thing just like a tick I wondered? Finally I flicked at it at just the right angle and it came off in my hand. HRJ rolled over and got up to go play. I stared down at the already dead ant. What the heck was it doing, I thought. I looked at it closely, it wasn't a red ant. It was an "everyday" ant. Just like the kind that envaded our house last week when tropical storm inconvienent came through.
What was it doing attaching itself to my baby?
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