The narrator tells us that he and his brother are on their way to the countryside to see ant colonies. He asks his father to accompany them, but his father refuses, saying that he's already quit smoking. The narrator says that the ants are stupid, and that they're circling each other, looking more like a brother and sister than a father and son. He says that this is exactly what he saw when he was a kid: a big guy chasing a little girl with big braids. The little girl is not running away from the big guy, but instead, she'