Today, wasn't going to go too well. I didn't know why I thought this, but there was something inside of my thorax that warned me of that. Feeling uneasy, I flitted open my eyes, and shook awake my body, Taking some time after to stretch all six of my legs, and to smell the familiar scent of my colony. It was my team's turn to go scavenge for food, and after the hard attempt of not walking over one of my co-workers, and nudging awake the ones who were, I collected them up out in the main path.
"Role call!" I shouted, trying to be heard over the bustle of the hall."561!"
"Here!"
"562!"
"Present!"
And the list went on until we reached ant no.569.
"Has anyone seen 569?" I queeried.
"Larvae duty." said 564 solemnly. "Queen's order after she lost the cantaloupe."
I shuddered. We never had the guts to even talk about that day without a guard around out of fear that we'd be kicked out by our co-workers. Hell, even the guys who did nothing but lay on their abdomens all day were ashamed of us! But that was for another time.
"Alright then, we'll make do. Thanks 564." 564 curtly nodded. "Ok! Now that that's out of the way, here's our mission. Today we're looking for just bits of fruit and such. Nothing too too big, just enough for one trip, and if we get back early, we get the rest of the shift with group 70." the team expressed their understanding.
Getting out of the hill was easy enough, due to how traffic wasn't as bustling as it was on midday shifts. We moved in a line, keeping ourselves straighter than that one branch we found with numbers engraved on it's caramel wood body. What was that thing called anyway?
Ahhh memories. I looked up at the large blades of grass that shaded us, and my bad feeling crept up on me again. I just prayed my feeling was wrong, and that it was just nerves from the cantaloupe incident. "We're gonna split up everyone. Don't stray too far." And without a word of complaint, they all walked off.
I looked for anything, looked to the left, nothing there. To the right, there was a glimpse of something promising, so I took the turn. But then there was a rumble that shook the ground. I looked up, worried if my sinking feeling was correct. The sky was a steely grey, with desaturated tones spread over the whole large sky. I wanted to yelp, but I literally couldn't. Then the sky burst into tears and the assailants of the sky, all clear and wet, burst out of the cage that was the clouds. BUAM. One exploded in front of me, and I stiffened in fear. I needed to find shelter asap, or i'd be facing a watery grave instead of a natural one. My eyes scanned the area, and then made eye contact with an old oak with woodpecker holes pockmarking it from the base to the very top. Feeling shaky, I ran towards it, my legs moving as fast as I could make them, and crawled inside one of the holes, and closed my eyes.
I didn't know how long I was out for, but I knew I needed to find my crew. I snapped myself awake, and precariously peeked my head out of the hole. Relief flushed over my body when I saw the sky become it's shades of reddish pink, blues, oranges and reds, and the ground less wet then when I had fallen asleep. I sighed. Sometimes the world seemed bigger than it should've. I scaled down the tree, and set off on my search for the team.
I broadcasted my scent, hoping they would recognize me, or the smell of our colony. And after a while, the sun faded more and more. 'Well, if they're in the right mind, they'll come back to the hill..' I was thinking wishfully, but really, can you blame me?
Once the hill came into view, I was nerve-wracked. What if the others weren't there? What if the queen's mad at me? What if the team got caught in the storm? My mind was tired of worrying, and so I trudged into the hill. I was about to say hello to 734, the doorguard, but she wasn't there. "What the.." I was confused. It was her shift, wasn't it? Then what happened? I crept in, and was shocked. There were ants everywhere, and they definitely were not from my colony. Their abdomens were a different shape, and their antennae shorter. I froze. What were they doing in my hill? I tried drawing back, but then one saw me. They looked devilish, their mandibles snapping. I was frozen with fear. But why? I should just run! But all my legs could do was shake.
Yeeaaahh, it's not quite done, ehe- but it's in a process
