Oneshots

2

If the ants that drowned in the sink had emotions
F

I bounced on my feet from side to side. This was going to be my very first day inside the humans nest. I'm a gatherer and today I was going to our most profitable source of food. I saw the line stacking up at the top of our mound of dirt. I was nervous to leave the dirt knowing I was leaving the safety of my home.

My friends called out to me as I took my final foot out of the safety of my home. I followed them closely as they talked about the tales of humans. How tall and mighty they were and how big their world is. My antennas twitch a little with anxiety when I'm quickly pulled out of my thoughts.

"Hey Anna, don't stress! You're being such a ladybug!" I feel a leg nudge me and I turn to face Ari. I head butt him playfully.

"I am not! I'm just thinking about what it's going to be like.. it's either beautiful and full of food or dangerous and full of humans."
He throws his head back and laughs.

"Oh come on Anna. If it was really full of humans like the crazy ants said, then we wouldn't be going here."

I nod silently and keep my mouth shut. I don't know how he can be so calm and confident about this. The already enormous house gets even bigger as my feet move me closer.

"Look at it this way, we get a lot of food and we come home. But if there are any humans. Then we'll leave okay?" He says honestly and I smile gratefully.

"Thanks." I say shyly.

"Now chin up little bug! You're about to see more food then youve ever seen in your life!" I look up and realise we're close to the ramp. It's an enormous hill and my legs all start to hurt as I push to keep my constant pace. The crack we'll be walking through is now getting bigger. I watch the line disappearing through our entrance and notice they don't even need to duck to get in. Ari turns to me and gives me a reassuring nod. Soon, almost too soon, it was our turn to enter.

It was dark inside, the suns natural rays being blocked out. It almost felt like our nest. I stop and take in the enormous house. Everything was so big. There were branches underneath a slab of tree holding it up. And a tall white chunk of snow. The small rays of sun showed clear ice tubes with small amounts of liquid in them.

"That's called a glass." Ari remarked. "I heard one of the other humans ask for one and they gave them that."

I turn to him bewildered.

"How did you know what-"

"You were thinking out loud again." He laughs and nudges me to keep moving. Climbing up on of the walls and onto a flat surface. "These are what we want though."

I follow his line of vision and see white circles and squares. A few colour cubes and black tubs.

"These are called dishes." He nods. "This is where the good food is. Humans are wasteful. They leave such big crumbs, I assume for us to take."

I think for a moment as we walk towards them. The sun shining off their surface.

"But if humans use them.. why wouldn't they come back and touch them."

"I have no idea. There's constant talk from the humans about doing dishes. I haven't quite worked out what they mean though.."

I turn to him and he wraps a leg around me, hugging me close.

"Come on little bug. Let's go get some food!" We run toward the direction of the dishes and Ari is right. There are hundreds of crumbs here. Some foods were sticky and sweet. Others were rock hard and sour. Even the liquid in the glass was sweet to drink!