Tuesday, March 20, 2007

a tale of 2 Ants

On a spiteful afternoon, two ants scooted on the face of a parched patch. They flitted aimlessly on tip-toes, not resting anywhere. The crevices that had opened up the dry land offered a quick respite, but therein lurked great dangers. The Great Black Ants hunted there—laying low, waiting for easy preys. The darting minnows were mindful of this; their trepidatious existence had taught them better than to succumb to such everyday temptations.

Amidst this flurry, they, with a big fat chunk of luck, chanced upon a morsel. Forsaking this crumb meant forgoing a sumptuous meal. Pausing for a few moments that labored slowly in the hot spell, they deliberated over the status quo.

The weight of the grain slowed them down considerably, and now every step of theirs was fraught with an ominous possibility. Trudging under the shared load, they sighted a man sleeping under a small tree. Only his face was in the shade; the rest of him lay bare in the sun. Even then he was in a sound nap, with a spluttering chainsaw for a snore. With a gargantuan effort, the ants pulled themselves up along with their prize onto the man’s nose. Once there, they sighed in relief. The black ants wouldn’t dare venture there, for their heavy steps would immediately invite their host’s attention.

“Such a barren expanse! Nothing grows here these days,” the older ant remarked. The younger one, too spent to be bothered by the bleakness in the comment, just gazed into the distance.

“It wasn’t this bad earlier. We used to chance upon something without much effort,” the patriarch continued, shaking a helpless head at the turn of events. Now hollering his lament, “There is hardly a blade left on this earth, and we still haven’t stored a thing for the rains.”

Unmindful of these words, the younger one was already nibbling at the morsel. Perching his legs high over its surface, and rolling it to and fro to get a good bite, he feasted on the speck. Stretching a wee too much, he lost his grip over the slippery grain and down it trundled. Aghast, he stretched every sinew of his in a desperate attempt.

Resting on the bridge thus far, the elderly ant now sprinted as fast his creaky legs could carry to salvage the lost meal.

Just then, the rumble stopped. Only the hustle on the nose hung heavy in the dry air.

A hand rubbed the nose, crushing both the ants.

8 comments:

Goli said...

Nice one, reminded me of one PJ, in which one sardarji was just about to step on ant, and the shouted "Please please dont crush me it is my bday", Sardarji felt pity on him, and took him on his palm. And then started clapping and singing Happy Bday..:D

Not that am comparing your story with the PJ, I loved the whole idea of Great black ants.

satyajit said...

goli: i wrote this as a metaphor for some things in life..and i'm little amused it reminded you of a PJ :-)...but thats maybe the fun part of letting yr writing be interpreted

shantanu said...

Its a nice story. If you ask me the irony of the ending , if that is what you wanted to portray, could do with a bit more of a build up. I think short stories albeit much longer than the one you penned down here are a good way to eventually write a novel

Pritesh Jain said...

Saving some grace for future or live the moment? Uncertainty glooms so much so close to our face still we smile anticipating a certain bright future. If we our face in the mirror that time, the smile would make it worth living at the moment.

satyajit said...

nunu: it isnt a short story per se..i thought of this during a coffee brk with a frnd at work..i asked her to make up a story pronto and when she didnt i made this one up..

but ya you can make a proper story out of this..

pj: if we can imagine the Higher Power, fate or whatever we call it, as the man and we, as ants, how does it feel to be an ant?

Tikna said...

the man didn't sneeze :(

woman undercover ;) said...

i love ants and ant tales!!!

mujhe cheenti pasand hein

Mein ek cheenti maniac hoon!!

satyajit said...

word blaster:hehehe..i was wondering that for most of us, our first kill is an ant