The+Ant+Colony

The Ant Colony- //Leah McNeil//

The distant rumble in the streaky blue sky made me jump; then heave the last bit of sweating golden cheese onto my back. As soon as I had it firmly placed, I began scuttling homeward as fast as my legs would carry me. Gasping, I slowed to a stop as I reached the bottom of the golden sand-hill, preparing for the bothersome ascent. I started up, my legs slipping through the grains. “Hurry up, Tony!” shouted the watch-ant. I only sighed in response, and gave a slight affirmative wiggle of the head. The ant started down towards me to relieve me of my burden, slid it off my back, and darted quickly down the hole into the building. After allowing myself a quick second to catch my breath, I followed him. What I saw next came as somewhat of a shock, although looking back on it now; I suppose it was only to be expected. The navy blue interior of the hill was in chaos. I almost could not discern the deep red rug on the floor, or the weaved straw chairs. Eventually, the watch-ants got everyone settled down into rows in the Meeting Hall. The Council, leaning heavily on their walking sticks, slowly climbed up the creaky wooden stairs. They sat down in their chairs. The room was silent- every ant leaning forward, anticipating the news. “Ladies and gentleants,” squeaked out Gertrude, the head of the Council, “please do not panic, calm will ensure our continuing safety…” Their was a loud rustling as everybody settled down for what they hoped to be a rather exciting lecture. “Because we take up home in Arizona, it is unlikely… for rain to come upon us…” Fathers, mothers, children, cousins, all sat bolt upright, in exact unison. I, too, straightened out, not quite believing that the rumbles I heard were really the beginning signs of a rainstorm. How could it rain, here, in Arizona? Not once in the memory of any of those gathered in the gym had it ever rained. That was why we built our colony here, where it supposedly was always dry- rain is so destructive to ants. I lost myself in my own recollections, drifting in and out of attention to the narrative of Gertrude, and the substantial comments from the other bearded Councilors. My attention only became fully focused on the current happenings when I heard my name spoken by several voices. Really, I should have seen it coming. I am a hard-worker, born with strong muscles, and I am not swayed easily, if I may say so myself. It was my assignment to scope out the country club, which was the closest building to our colony, to see if we could set up house there temporarily, at least while it was raining, and until it dried up. So it was a shocked me that climbed out the hatch to the cheering of the whole colony while I prepared to walk into building chalk-full of snobby humans. The first thing I saw upon my arrival in the building was an enormous mound of black fur. It was an enormous Beast, whose name, I would later discover, is Valspar. At the moment, however, I had no idea that the Beast’s name was Valspar, or what his temperament was. I got a good guess, though, when I saw him holding a dead, bleeding, mangled mouse in his forepaws and laying it delicately down under a corner of the rug. I shuddered. Probably so he could rip it to shreds sometime later on when he was feeling bored. I decided I had better not let this thing catch sight of me, or we would be in real danger. I dived into a tiny hole in the beautifully plastered wall, behind an oak chair, and landed in a huge intersection of pipes. I will admit- their plumbing system was intricate and well thought out. I had arrived through the tangled masses of cords, at a vestibule- type area. I shimmied out of a miniscule opening, and found myself in a small, dark room, filled with mysterious long shadows, big buckets, and bottles of pesticide that smelled bitter and cold. If I could only clear away the rolls of paper in the middle, and ditch the poisonous bottles, perhaps the colony could stay here for the duration of the rain… but when I heard the soft pad of four, silky black legs rapidly approaching I decided against that idea, turned on my heels and trotted quickly out of the closet. It continued like this for hours, stepping into one room, hearing the Beasts’ soft tread outside the door, or seeing his tail give one final swish-flick as he stepped past the dining hall I was occupying. At one point, when I had my back turned and was investigating a possible cheese cupboard, he went so far as to enter the room with a strange, half-smile on his face, and open his mouth. He had very sharp teeth, I noticed, with one blurred glance, as I made a mad dash for the exit. The situation was becoming desperate, and I panicked that maybe Gertrude should have chosen somebody else to do this, somebody who would not end up the mass-murderer of an entire colony! “Deep breaths…deep breaths…,don’t blow this out of proportion.” I calmed myself, Therefore, it was with a heavy, yet hopeful heart that I continued down the maze of pipes. Finally, I arrived at the last room in the building so far. I hoped upon hope that this one would be the perfect one, for that sort of thing happened in storybooks really too much. So when I leaped through a narrow crack, and nearly landed in a mass of human feet, I was filled with hopelessness. I slowly pivoted, my head hanging, to go tell the Council I had failed, and would be responsible for thousands of deaths, along with the entire colony probably being sought after at this very moment by a giant Beas- “Hang on, just a moment there,” commanded a gruff voice. I froze, and spun around. I was face-to-face with the Beast himself. “Um, yes?” I squeaked out, barely audible, shaking with fright and despair. The Beast just grinned foolishly at me, a look I found very disturbing. Galloping away as fast as my six legs would carry me, I was centimeters away from the entrance I had used when- “Wait!” cried the Beast. “Follow me, I know just the room.”