Chapter 1 - Anthill Morning
The faint but distinctive sounds of crickets chirping could be heard from within the many stalks of green grass, illuminated by the massive light from the sun. Through the stalks of grass, the tiny pattering of footsteps - a large number of footsteps as it happened - was also audible. Scampering around the soil ground intertwined with the stalks were ants, collecting food from the taller stalks belonging to flowers by climbing up them and grabbing berries, nuts and whatever else was there. However, some of the ants were also using a kind of device, a 'food harvester', to speed up the process of collecting the food by chopping down the stalks.
A long line of walking ants protruded from the area of grass and stalks, all heading in the direction of a large patch of barren ground. On the edge of that patch was what appeared to be a kind of altar made from twigs and leaves. The ants were taking the food to the 'altar' and storing it there. Obviously the food was their overall supply being stored for the coming rainy season.
Standing just below the 'altar' was a small group of dignified-looking ants, overseeing the progress of the line of ants. One of the ants, a female with a purple shade of skin, also sporting a crown made out of reeds on her head, surveyed the movement of the line.
"Whew…so far so good," she smiled, noticing nothing wrong.
"Of course," replied another gravelly female voice, "we should have a good stack of food in no time. And it's all thanks to you, Atta…or should I say Your Majesty?"
Atta looked at her mother, who had just spoken, with another smile. "Oh, titles are all well and good, Mom, but a little bit of informality wouldn't go amiss…"
Atta's mom gave a hearty laugh. "Sure! You do run this place, after all."
Yeah, thank you for the zillionth time, Mom, thought Atta sarcastically to herself. Ever since her mom handed down the title of Queen of Ant Island to her, she'd just felt a bit irked every time someone mentioned she was the leader. 'The One.' 'The Boss.' Sure, Atta enjoyed being in charge, but most of the time she felt just a bit too special, like everything was a big event, with everyone making a fuss of her. She missed the normality of life on Ant Island.
"Hey! Queen Atta!"
That familiar voice instantly perked Atta up. The one voice that kept her feeling that everything was still down-to-earth.
"Hey, Flik! Everything OK?"
Running up to the 'altar', clad in one of the harvesters, which he invented, Flik gave Atta a confident, reassuring smile.
"Just fine! We're gonna be shipshape for that rain season for sure!"
Atta smiled back. "Great! Shall we meet up tonight to celebrate?"
Flik blushed a little, thinking that just about the whole of the colony might have probably heard that. "Uh…sure! Anything for you, Atta…"
Promptly, the nerdy blue ant blew the queen/love of his life a kiss, much to Atta's delight and the amusement of Atta's council. Then, he headed back towards the stalks to continue gathering food.
"I never thought I would say this ever in my life," chimed in Thorny, one of the council members, "but you and Flik seem…well…made for each other, Your Majesty…"
"Yes, made for each other, Your Majesty," repeated the elderly Cornelius.
"Maybe you should settle down with him, dear," suggested the former Queen, "not just because he's a hero, because he is a genuinely nice boy."
Atta sighed, the council were just stating the obvious. She felt incredible love for Flik, and they had been an item since his well known heroics in vanquishing the presence of the colony's deadly enemies the grasshoppers long ago. But total commitment with Flik was a nagging doubt. Focusing her attention back on the line of ants, she was suddenly startled by the sounding of a horn.
"Uh-oh…" she said, slightly worried, "please don't tell me we have trouble…"
"It's OK, Your Highness," reassured the resident Dr. Flora, "we just have visitors."
"Ah, the old warning system…" reminisced the ant next to the Doctor, Mr. Soil, "it's not easy to forget that we don't have to worry about certain insects anymore…"
The whole council nodded and exclaimed in total agreement with the latter. Then a familiar buzzing sound could be heard in the air. Instantly, the ants carrying the food looked up, initially in surprise, but then relaxed as they realised who their visitors were.
Flik instantly jumped up in excitement. "Oh yeah! They're here!"
From the distance, a group of insects, comprising of a rhino beetle, a ladybug, a praying mantis and a butterfly flew into view. Sitting atop the rhino beetle's back were two pill bugs and a black widow spider. The ladybug and praying mantis were carrying a very weighty caterpillar, while the butterfly carried a stick insect.
The ants quickly cleared a space for the group to land in, while at the same time they continued to get food onto the 'altar'. Then the visitors descended from the sky and landed on the ground, waving to the ants to signal their arrival.
The council came down to greet the visitors. "Welcome…again," greeted Atta with a smile.
"Nice to see you again," replied the stick insect, "I can see the place hasn't changed much…"
"Just as well, Slim," quipped the black widow spider, going by the name of Rosie, "we couldn't think of it in any other way."
Just then, Flik, ditching his harvester, came running up to the group of bugs with a big grin on his face.
"Long time no see, huh?" he beamed, "how is circus life?"
"Never better," replied the ladybug, "can't believe that we don't stink at this business now…"
"Uh-huh, Francis," chimed in Rosie, "wish we could say the same for P.T. He really needs to think of a new act. People aren't gonna go wild for 'Flaming Death' forever."
The group nodded in agreement. 'P.T.' was P.T. Flea, the boss of their circus, and boy did he work them hard. By accident, the routine known as 'Flaming Death' had become a hit for the circus, and they were in great demand.
"Glad you could come," said Flik, "it's lucky you get any breaks at all…"
"Too right," quipped Francis, "P.T. wouldn't know employee satisfaction even if it was applied with a sledgehammer."
"Yes," agreed the praying mantis, better known as Mantos the Magnificent, or 'Manny' for short, "one's ego can do so much damage…"
Manny's wife, the butterfly, going by the name of Gypsy, surveyed the 'altar', now crammed full of nutrients. "I see you've almost gathered your supplies for the rains."
"That's right," confirmed Atta, "tough job, but we ants are made of tough brains. Not forgetting you guys of course." She gave a little chuckle.
Meanwhile, Thorny was taking down the line numbers, when he suddenly noticed something wrong.
"Uh, Your Highness?" he called to Atta, "I think we're missing someone…"
Atta rushed over and checked Thorny's notes, then the line. "You're right…someone to go and check down the line please?"
Immediately Flik volunteered. "Ready and able, Your Majesty!"
Atta grinned. "Thanks, Flik."
Then Flik looked at the rhino beetle. "Could I have a ride, please Dim?"
Dim gave a grin, signalling a 'yes'. At once Flik hopped onto Dim's back. Also accompanying him were the two pill bugs.
"Hey there, Tuck. You too, Roll," said Flik, greeting the two bugs, although he knew they wouldn't understand a word he was saying, as they didn't speak English.
Tuck and Roll gave Flik a couple of smiles, then spouted some words in their native tongue, before they suddenly disagreed on something and started yelling at each other. Sighing, Flik motioned them to stop, and at once they did.
"You never change, guys…"
Then, Dim's wings started buzzing, and he lifted off into the air, with Flik, Tuck and Roll waving at everyone below.
"Be back before you can say 'daddy long legs'!" called out Flik as he was carried into the distance by Dim.
Small fragments of rock crunched under his feet as he stumbled along through the 'wood' of grass towering above him. Putting his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun's glare, his breathing was becoming strained and gasping.
Somehow, this solitary grey-skinned ant had managed to become separated from the line, and was now hopelessly lost within the vast forest of stalks and grass.
I only stopped for a second…just for a breather… he thought to himself, now more panicked than he had been before. He'd already tried yelling for help, to no avail
Sweat pouring from his head, the lost ant collapsed down against a big grey rock to try and recuperate and get his bearings. Getting lost was just one the worst predicaments that could happen to an ant.
Suddenly, the ant felt something sticky around his feet. In horror, he looked down and saw that his feet were sinking into the ground.
Quicksoil…oh, no…I don't wanna go like this…
Giving a yell, the ant frantically tried to pull his feet out of the deadly trap, but failed. The quicksoil was swallowing him speedily, he was now knee deep.
In desperation, he started yelling for help, his yells getting more panicky and louder as the quicksoil reached his waist.
Above in the air, Dim was making a sweep of the area, while Flik, Tuck and Roll kept a lookout.
"Man, I hate it when someone gets lost…" mused Flik.
"Lost…oooh…" quipped Tuck and Roll, with just one of the few English words they could understand.
"Scary," said Dim, agreeing flat-out, "Dim hopes we'll find lost ant."
Suddenly, Flik perked up, hearing a faint sound. It sounded like someone yelling for help. Tuck, Roll and Dim also heard it.
"Let's go down low, guys," said Flik, "if that sound gets closer we're heading in the right direction."
Instantly, Dim lowered altitude until he was down in the forest of grass. Sure enough, as he flew along, the sound got less faint. Flik pulled out a self-made telescope, fashioned from a leaf and a glass marble and looked through it, scanning the distance. He suddenly gasped in horror as he caught sight of the lost ant stuck in the quicksoil.
"Oh no, not quicksoil! Hurry, Dim!"
At once Dim picked up more speed and flew over to the quicksoil pit and came to a stop, hovering above the terrified ant.
"Help me!!!" screamed the ant, who was now almost neck deep in the quicksoil.
"Lower me down!" ordered Flik to Dim. Flik then climbed down onto Dim's legs while Dim lowered himself down just close enough so Flik could reach the trapped ant.
"Grab my hand!" called out Flik, reaching out his own hand.
The ant still had both arms above the quicksoil, so, gritting his teeth, he reached out his hands. With some difficulty, Flik managed to grab onto the ant's hands.
"Now, Dim!" he called out, "pull us up! We're almost out of time!"
At once, Dim raised altitude, Flik maintaining his grip on the ant. As Dim moved upwards, the ant rose up from out of the quicksoil, his body covered in the stuff. Suddenly, one of the ant's arms slipped from Flik, and he almost fell back into the pit.
"Aaagghh! No!" cried the ant in terror.
"Hold on buddy! We're almost there!" reassured Flik, keeping a tight grip on the ant's other hand.
In a few seconds, the ant was completely clear of the quicksoil. Flik, Tuck and Roll helped him up onto Dim's back.
"You OK, buddy?" asked Flik of the rescuee, followed by simultaneous "OK"s from Tuck and Roll.
"I'm fine," replied the ant, wiping his brow and sighing in relief, "thanks a million, Flik. Big up to you bugs too."
"No problem, Mr. Ant," replied Dim, "Dim take you back to tree now."
"Just what I was about to say, Dim," grinned Flik, "let's go…everyone will be waiting for us."
With that, Dim flew out of the grass forest and back towards the large tree in the middle of Ant Island.
With the sun now very low in the sky, and darkness setting in, the pile of food on the 'altar' had now become more taller than before. Food was still being carried to the pile, and the colony looked set on reaching their self-set deadline of sunset.
However, instead of feeling pleased with the amount of food collected, Atta was worried. Not about the food, but the fact that Flik hadn't returned from his patrol.
"He's been gone over an hour now…" she fretted to her mother, "something's happened, I just know it!"
"Calm down, dear," coaxed the former Queen, "jumping to conclusions is a bad idea."
"I know," replied Atta, "but surely he would've found that missing guy now…"
"…and maybe that ant is hurt, and they're treating to him as we speak," interrupted Atta's mom, "whatever's happening, Flik'll know what he's doing."
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the shrill cries of a small pink-skinned ant, who came running up to them.
"Mom! Atta! It's Flik, he's back!"
"Thanks, Dot," replied the elderly ex-Queen, giving a knowing glance at Atta. The worrysome Ant Queen just gave a sigh.
Then the familiar sound of Dim's buzzing wings could be heard as he landed down by the 'altar', with Flik, Tuck and Roll and the rescued ant on his back. A cheer went up from some of the ants still carrying food along.
"Thanks, guys," beamed Atta, "what happened out there?"
"Just three words, Princess," replied Flik, "lost ant and quicksoil."
Atta gave a small laugh. "I've got the picture."
She then turned to the rescuee ant. "Looks like you had quite a scare, uh…"
"It's Acorn," answered the ant, "I don't know, I only took a breather for a minute…and as for that quicksoil…I don't want to experience that again anytime soon…"
"Well, you're in the company of a club that feels exactly the same," quipped Flik, shaking hands with Acorn.
The horn was suddenly sounded again, to signal stoppage time for the food collection, and almost immediately cheers went up from the colony and could be heard all over Ant Island, both over ground and underground.
"Looks like this calls for a double celebration," grinned Atta, "we've got our food supply ready just in time."
She then headed towards the giant tree which towered over the 'altar', and quickly climbed up the trunk to a branch, where the signal horn was situated, and talked into it so that the entire colony could hear her.
"Great job, everyone! Thank you!"
With that, the thousands of ants that made up the colony, talking and chattering, made their way down into their underground habitat below the giant tree. After all that hard work during the day, it was time to kick back, relax and grab forty winks.
Flik, Atta, Dim and the pill bugs and the council were the last to make their way down below.
"Ah…isn't it just so satisfying when everything is finally done?" sighed Atta contendly, "the food's all stored safe for the rains, everyone's happy…"
"…and you handled it smoothly," finished Flik, presenting his beau with a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you," replied Atta sweetly, returning the compliment, "and thank you for coming back safely, too."
"Atta…you shouldn't worry about me so much," sighed Flik, "I know it stinks when we're apart, but I can promise you that whenever I go off somewhere, I'll come back in one piece. Period."
Atta smiled. "Good…because I can't imagine life without you, Flik."
The duo then stopped walking and just gave each other a long, loving stare. Atta just felt at peace with Flik by her side. She wished she could talk with him every day and night. It was no surprise that Flik felt the same way. They were in love, after all…
Snapping out of their romantic trance, the duo headed down the long winding path to the many chambers that made up the ants' home in order to turn in for the night.