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Fire Ant Fiasco (14) : Fire ants are an unfortunate part of summer, but this year they're worse than ever. It's bad enough that they're so plentiful, but their bites also burn far more intensely than usual. What begins as a sharp sting quickly spreads into a sensation that feels like liquid fire running through your veins. The heat can become overwhelming. Some victims compare it to a severe allergic reaction; others insist it feels as though they are overheating from the inside out. Skin may flush, muscles may ache, and everything can suddenly feel unbearable. The effects are painful, but never lethal. Cold showers, ice packs, frozen treats, and air conditioning can provide temporary relief, but there is no known cure beyond waiting it out. For some, the symptoms fade within minutes. For others, the feverish sensation can linger for hours. No one knows what's causing these unusually aggressive reactions, but you should probably be extra careful outside this year.
Thistle had interacted with any number of curious Earth beasts in his short time on his new home planet, and his current object of fascination was actually not just one creature, but dozens, all marching in a perfectly orderly line. Naturally, Thistle was following them, squatted down like one of those feathery water animals, the ones that had green heads sometimes, to keep close an eye on them as he followed the trail. He had no idea where they were going, and was blissfully unaware of any passing obstructions to his cause (whether it be pedestrians or cars or, at least once, a lightpost). He was on a Mission, and that Mission was to find out where these teeny tiny friends with very many legs came from, or where they were going. Thistle wasn't sure which one it would be yet, but he figured it would become apparent when he got there, wherever 'there' ended up being.
The most curious thing about these creatures was how different they were from the other tiny, many-legged creatures Thistle had seen elsewhere, in parks and playgrounds and anywhere that food happened to be. (This was possibly because Thistle could be found wherever food happened to be, but that's beside the point.) Those other little creatures were all black. Some were quite big, but mostly they were tiny and very hard to capture.
These guys? These guys were red. Very red. Red meant danger in the animal kingdom, but he didn't see anything extra dangerous about them. They didn't have big pincers or anything. So he thought he was safe enough to follow them and see where they lived; maybe he'd make a bunch of tiny, many-legged friends!
(Or, yanno, maybe not.)
honkzilla
