Subay

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cluster of biting ants on a table

Subay.

It’s the Hiligaynon word for ants. Actually it’s the Hiligaynon word for one ant — if you have more than one ant, or a group of ants — it’s mga subay.

Mga Subay.

cluster of biting ants on a table
When you give your 11 year old paracetamol syrup be sure and wash the spoon before putting it on the table next to his bed.

In our apartment Jerry calls me Ant Killer.

“When ants will see you Tita Mel they will shout to each other … ANT KILLER!” he tells me this everytime I thump up and down the stairs holding a 30%-extra-for-the-same-price can of Baygon .

Truly, I don’t like killing ants (or anything for that matter) but ants in my bed, ants in my undies, ants in the kitchen, on the floor, in my lunch/coffee/dinner, stairs, couch, kitchen table, office desk, laundry clothes, shoes. It get’s a bit much.

So when Jerry shoved past my MacBook Pro a few weeks back to grab at a mango smoothie, and spilled the sticky liquid down over the keyboard and deep into that long horizontal space between the main body of the computer and the screen. I was not at all pleased.

And like Nostradamus I was spot on — only my prediction was confirmed within a few short hours rather than half a millennia — ANTS.

Subay.

MGA SUBAY.

Little black ants that sting. Living in my laptop.

Do I need to write more?

In Jerry’s room, just above the table that (earlier this morning) had hosted the swarm of little ants that sting, a storm is brewing out the window.  No ants during the storm, but as soon as it stops raining — MGA SUBAY.
After giving Jerry some paracetamol this morning I accidentally left the spoon on his table.
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Melinda J. Irvine

Melinda J. Irvine is a freelance writer, blogger and creative. She writes for business clients and online publications all over the world. When she’s not writing about holistic health and ways to become a more effective writer, Mel is practicing tai chi and supporting the emotional wellbeing of marginalised kids in the Philippines. Sometimes she even has time to cross stitch.

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