I hate swarms of bugs.

I was still in elementary then, and my favorite shoes were a black pair with a shiny picture of Batman donning its sides. Only a few weeks earlier, my family went to Subic with our friends, and I was enthralled with the bats that were flying above us. I felt an immediate connection - they went out in front of me because Batman hugged my feet.

The service that takes me to school came early one day. Naturally, I finished up my rituals in a hurry, and found myself at the last stop before going out of the gate. I was about to wear my shoes. I put the right shoe on first, and tightened its laces slowly. Then, a single ant came out of the shoe, and crawled up my leg. Suddenly, without notice, a swarm of ants attacked my right leg, crawling up from the shoe. I immediately took the shoe off, and cried to my mother. I never remembered an instance when I wore those shoes again.

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Since the erratic rainy season started last 2008, black ants were almost everywhere in our house. From the gate to the dining room, they were there, minding their own business, taking shelter in our home. Prior to this, other small ants were also in our house - finding a living eating scraps in the microwave (surprisingly these critters survive the harsh treatment we use to warm out food). They don't really bother me, nor alter my daily routine that much. However, recently, things got worse.

They started appearing on my leg - one at a time - out of nowhere. Sometimes I would just be startled out of my idleness by an unsuspecting bite. When I sweep the floor, their small, curled up, dead compatriots would be the bulk of the dirt I see. They don't target our food, they target our house.

My parents really do not mind, and true to that I have learned to live with it this summer. Our house may crumble due to them, but its fine with me. As long as I don't wake up covered in a blanket of ants.