Unbelievable
Her neighbor could not control his laughter. He looked her straight in the eyes as he demolished the anthill. She could not believe what she was seeing. She could not comprehend why he would do this.
However, what she noticed inside the anthill stunned her. It was life-changing.
Lazy Saturday
Jill Bauer was under the impression that her morning would be uneventful. She planned on waking up in the afternoon and spend her Saturday cuddling up under a fuzzy blanket and read her favorite novel. However, her plans would drastically change.
Her neighbor woke her up at the crack of dawn. She wondered what on earth he was getting up to?
Easily Woken Up
It was easy to wake Jill up. The slightest noise would wake her up and that day was no different. She was abruptly woken up by her neighbor.
The moment she looked out of her window to see why her neighbor woke her up, she was stunned. Why was he doing that?
Reserved Man
Jill did not know her neighbor well, he was new to the neighborhood and usually kept to himself. He spent his weekdays working, and every Saturday he woke Jill up because he'd mow his lawn. It was like clockwork.
However, he was doing something odd that morning. Jill was stunned.
Minding Her Business
The previous day, her neighbor received a bag of what Jill thought to be fertilizer. She did not spend too much time thinking about his delivery and moved on with her day. However, that morning Jill couldn't help but wonder whether his package was involved with what he was doing that morning.
She saw the bag he received, however it had already been opened and used.
Strange Liquid
Jill observed her neighbor carrying a bucket containing a shiny liquid. It became clear to Jill that the bag contained an object that her neighbor melted for whatever purpose.
What was he intending on doing with the strange silver liquid?
Identifying The Liquid
After spending a few minutes observing him, she recognized the liquid. It was aluminum. Why would he use aluminum in his yard? Jill couldn't help but wonder.
The first thing that came to mind was why he was using melted it? But she would soon learn the horrifying reality.
Inhumane
What she saw next made her eyes pop. He approached an anthill in his garden and began to pour the melted aluminum over it. She couldn't believe her eyes, who would be so cruel to do such a thing?
Ants are known to be pesky in the summer time, but she was sure there was a better way to approach this. Little did she know that the reason behind his actions were entirely different than what she initially thought...
Inhumane
She knew she had to do something. She couldn't stand and watch this man do this to ants. She quickly got dressed and sprinted to his house.
He had another thing coming if he thought he could get away with this.
Mocking Her
She jumped up and down trying to catch her neighbor's attention. He greeted her with a smile, but he was met with anger. She gave him a piece of her mind.
As he returned his gaze to the anthill, the man's eyes widened in bewilderment. He then laughed as he returned her gaze. Was he making fun of her?
The Reveal
The man told her to watch what he was about to do next. He walked back to the anthill and started to crack it open. Jill’s pulse started racing. Why was he destroying the anthill and what about the ants?
But she wasn’t ready for what she would see once he opened up the mound of dirt.
Art!
The cooled-off aluminum showed exactly what all of the tunnels looked like inside the anthill. It was beautiful. He smiled at her and explained that the anthill was vacant and that in his free time he used aluminum to make art that could also be highly educational.
But when he revealed what he did Jill was in disbelief.
A Professor
The neighbor revealed to Jill that he was a professor at a nearby elementary school and liked to make models of ant tunnels. The best and most accurate way to do this was to pour liquid metal into the anthill. He would always make sure they were empty.
Jill felt silly for confronting the professor but he was understanding so they both got to laugh it off.
Informative
The casts he makes can weigh up to 18 pounds. He explained how he doesn’t just make them for his classroom though. He also said he uses them for art projects and to further his research into etymology - the study of insects.
But Jill was glad that she had misunderstood.
Art And Education Without Cruelty
Jill made sure that her neighbor would promise not to ever use live anthills to make his casts and he was more than happy to agree. She told him that the next time he was making his models she might pop over again for a chat and maybe even a cup of coffee.
What started as a misunderstanding turned into a friendship.