Anyway ... she talks to me about her beliefs in this whole phenomena, but only to me. She fears ridicule and being ostricized by friends and family because it is so weird to talk about in our circles. She told me a few months ago in a semi-agitated state about something her 3 year old son said to her one day. They have ant problems in their house, and are constantly fumigating and squishing ants (sorry), and it's just a common thing for them.
He came to his mother one morning and out of the blue told his mom that the little antman said she needs to stop killing the ants. Obviously being somewhat versed in greys and what not, she probed him with a few questions.
What does he look like? "He looks like an ant, only like a man." How tall is he? "About this high ... " (her son holds his arm to just over his head). When did he come and see you? "In my room". Where does the antman live? "He used to live in my bitty bitty house (remember this child is 3), but now he lives in my big house". For reference, this child refers to everything he holds or goes to as "his".
I thought this was an interesting story. It's possible the boy does not want his mom to kill the ants, and made this up to scare her, but he does not seem to be the storyteller type, like my own child is. He's pretty straight forward.