Stuff and Moonshine

The Merril contest has a 4000-word limit, so I've had to take out all the Blakean stuff to make room for the giant ants, which to tell the truth, is an improvement. My protagonist has become more flawed - the story is now mostly about him coveting his neighbour's ant.

Trouble is I'm now at just over 3500 words, and I still need to flesh out the gardening stuff a bit as well as, y'know, wrap up the actual story.