Who Stole Our Food?- An Antsy Tale

 

On one fine afternoon:

Mordax: "OOH!! What is that?!"

Mordax: "That is huge. This big baby could feed us for days."

Mordax: "I need to get Nehak and Ronny here asap. Ooooo What a delight!!!" 

Meanwhile: 

Mordax:"Hey Nehak, Ronny! Stop working. I've got the biggest prize you need to see."

Ronny: "What is it?"

Mordax: "It is a whole biscuit I found...lying in the middle of the balcony. Can't get it in here without your help....c'mon quick!!"

Nehak: "You marked your way back, right?"

Mordax: "Yep! Right here. Follow this one..."

All reach the end of the trail of pheromone.

Ronny: "So, where is it?"

Mordax: "I don't know. It was right here! I promise...."

Nehak: "Well the trail stops here too..."

Mordax: "Exactly!..."

Ronny: "Alright well, let's go. If it isn't here then let's not waste our time. We need to fill in for our duties."

Back at the ant colony, sometime later:

Commander: "Alright folks of Team C, gather around.

Hmmmmm...Let's see. 

So you guys still aren't any close to the goal since the last time I checked.

(looks up) Well, get it done asap! We close in about a week and we have a colony to feed."

All(saluting): "Yes sir!!"

30 minutes later:

Mordax(whispering): "Pssstt!! Hey! Nehak! Ronny!! Wake up. I've got something to show you..."

Nehak(sluggishly): "What is it?"

Mordax: "Wake up and come with me. Bring your magnifying glasses too."

Mordax drags his reluctant and tired friends back to the spot he led them to, a few hours ago.   

Nehak: "And why are we here, again?"

Mordax: Gentlemen, fish out your magnifying glasses and peer through them.

Tell me, brothers, what do you see?"

Nehak(gasping): "Crumbs!!!"

Mordax: "That is right, gentlemen. Someone came in and stole the biscuit I was going to show you in the time it took me to fetch you. Case closed. 

(bows) You're welcome."

Ronny: "Okay...and what? Wasn't that obvious? "

Mordax(protesting): "You called me a liar earlier!"

Ronny: "What? No. I didn't say that. I just asked where it was. I never said 'I don't believe you.' "

Mordax: "Well, your tone made me think you suspected me of lying. Aww, this sucks."

Ronny: "Relax! Of course, I'd believe you. You are my friend. Let's go back home and get our power naps. We need it. We still have to cover our goal, remember?"

Mordax(sadly):"Yeah...all right..."

Mordax: "Stupid thief..stole our food..makes us work harder...(more incoherent muttering)..."

Author's note:- 

A long time ago, I liked to follow ants working, very closely. I was fascinated by their work ethic. I also got bit by a few of them, but, that's okay. One day, I decided to mess with ants. I left a sweet and salty biscuit on the floor and stepped aside for a few minutes. Lo and behold, one ant found it and went back to call his friends for help. Once they got pretty close, I picked up the biscuit. The ants got antsy(pun intended) and I got a good giggle out of this incident. A few days ago, I was thinking about this and thought, "What if the ant who found out the biscuit was treated like the boy who cried wolf? Lol, poor guy." That baby hand you see in the illustration is my hand.

I could have written this story like all other short stories but where is the fun in that? I wanted to paint it because I thought it would look better than the last time. In hindsight, my sketches would have looked just fine.  Oh well! Next time, I'll get it right.

By the way,

गणेश चतुर्थीच्या हार्दीक शुभेच्छा