Carpenter Ant Anonymous

My legs were sprawled out on the bed as I lay texting my friends about the latest gossip, occasionally chuckling. From the corner of my eye, I saw a brown dot crawl up the inside layer of the curtain on my canopy bed. I felt my body stiffen into a rigid ice cube. Without making a sound, I slowly allowed my head to trace back to the brown dot. With six twiggy legs and a bead body, I knew exactly what it was. The most gigantic and disgusting Carpenter Ant I had ever seen!

My dad's voice from the living room echoed through the house. I wondered if he could help me remove the menacing creature. However, another voice told me how humiliating it would be if I couldn't even remove a measly bug by myself. My pride pulsated intensely as my stubbornness coursed through my veins. I shoved away the nagging thoughts of seeking help for such an absurd task. If I asked him for assistance, he would undoubtedly think I was weak. If I let the bug roam on my curtain, there would be a chance of it crawling into my mouth in my sleep. If I tried removing the bug on my own, it could scramble down or scuttle somewhere else, where I would be unable to locate it. The fate of the universe was in my hands. I had to choose whether to cut the red, blue, or...