The Ant & I

The Ant & I is a short story written by Dave Woetzel with the purpose of exploring the interaction between a supernatural Creator and his fallible human creatures living within three-dimensional world.  Hopefully the reader will gain new insight into divine communications from God’s perspective. The whole story is available via Adobe Reader, but below is a small sampling from the opening of the story.

Open The Ant & I as pdf


[A teaser from the beginning of the story]

It was a sultry September day when I ceased my toil in the yard to find repose beneath the outspread limbs of a mammoth maple tree.  In my exhaustion, I laid prone so as to exert minimal energy supporting myself.  The gnarled roots of the aged tree here provided shelter for a miniature world, a tiny garden fenced in by the feet of the maple.  Where the trunk met the ground my gaze fell upon a familiar site–the mound of sand and pebbles forming the abode of one of nature’s most humble creatures.  And as I reflected upon such a tiny home nestled within this corner of the yard, a single inhabitant of the anthill emerged.  I watched in fascination, with my face a mere several inches from the ant, as his antennae beckoned up to me in an inviting manner.  Without thinking I found myself drawn to address the tiny insect:

“Ant,” I began, “your whole world is but a tiny speck of my universe, and yet I can relate to your desire to make this miniature corner comfortable and secure.  You have laid claim to a piece of land that is rightly a slice of my real estate, but I don’t begrudge you its use.”

To my utter amazement I heard the tiny voice of the creature as clear as any discourse I had ever before engaged.  Was it the acoustical features of this ancient root system about me? or was my newfound acquaintance in possession of a gift of communication unprecedented in his lowly kind?  The ant replied to me, “I understand your voice, stranger, but I don’t see you here anywhere.”  I watched as the ant twitched its antennae curiously. It started up the roots on one side and then scrambled across its hill of sand to survey the wall of wood behind its little home.

“No! No! silly creature,” I replied, “I’m way up here above you!”  The ant glanced about on every side nervously, but it clearly was unable to comprehend my gigantic frame stretching far beyond its realm of perception.  “Here,” I instructed after a moment’s thought. “I’ll show you myself directly.”  I slowly extended a single finger to my tiny companion.  The ant immediately noticed the finger and began to “feel” me with its antennae and front legs.

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Open The Ant & I as pdf