The Ant

Part of the #BePositiveWriteNow collection

It was like a moving carpet.  An intimidating black mass that shimmered in the daylight and moved like a shadow at night.  This was the colony. It is walking as one, thinking like one.  Hemmed in on all sides by a meandering river, the settlement ruled this patch with absolute precision and ruthless organisation.

 

But one ant was restless.

 

This Ant’s job was to explore and map future areas the colony could explore, but by doing this, the Ant had seen and experienced so much more than the rest.  He had witnessed the death of trees on a scorching summer’s day by humans, to catching the romance of stag beetles under flowering quince.  The colony was here because of him.  More than this, it had given him thought.  Ideas.  Dreams.  Did the others dream?  Uncertainty pervaded his mind.  Other than being part of the collective group, he realised the more he unplugged from the colony, the more he yearned for his dreams.

 

The regimented routine of the swarming mass weighed on him.  He wanted to break out and be free, but with the river, on all sides, he could not.  He knew that to escape the routine he hated; he’d have to use his brain more than ever before.

 

The Sun rose and fell many times before the Ant finally put his plan into action.  Breaking from the crowd, he scampered quickly to the river.  The structure of the colony was such that any ant breaking rank was instantly recognised and caught.  As such, the colony’s guards were in quick pursuit.

 

Reaching the river, it looked like the end for the Ant.  The slow-moving but treacherous looking flow lapped just in front of him with the guards almost upon him.  Snatching a huge leaf with his pincers, he bravely stepped into the water, wrestling with the piece of lush foliage until he was safely on top of it, sailing down the river, neither confident of future or direction.

The guards reached the river and were amazed.  Not only had he escaped the routine, but he had used his brains to do so, and he never went back to the colony ever again.

Author's Note

These stories are inspired by real people, and are written within 30 minutes or so in front of that very person, with the aim to spread positivity through social media, so please keep that in mind if critiquing.