FEATURED COLUMNIST CIRCUS ANTS

It was a hot summer day and sunlight was peeping through the trees. A slight breeze made my walk perfect. As I was enjoying my stroll through the woods, I spied a colony of large black ants up ahead. I always loved watching ants scurrying about doing their thing.

Fascination made me observe the worker ants going back and forth in a regimented line. They all appeared to be organized and working to support the colony. These were large ants about a quarter to a half an inch long and seemed to be made like an hour glass. Their head was attached to a body that had three parts.

Bending down to look more closely, I heard voices. I leaned over even further until my nose was almost in their way. I never heard of ants talking like people. I did know they communicated with each other somehow. By now, I was on my knees and leaning way down. My arms were getting tired, but I refused to stand up. And then it happened. Three worker ants near me were talking! They were even calling each other by name.

“Lula, you think you are so great, do you?” said one of the ants.

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“Look who’s talking. Lulu, you’re always thinking you are better than all of us,” said another ant.

Lulo interrupts, “Now girls, don’t bicker and get moving. We have work to do.”

Lulu speaks up, “Hey gals, what would you say to bugging out of these worker ant jobs? The Queen never does anything. She thinks she’s something else. I’m sick of it all. Why not just escape from this place?”

The other two ants, looked at each other, paused a moment, and said, “Yes, let’s run away.”

“When shall we leave?” questioned Lulo.

Lula quickly added, “Right now. Drop your load and clear out!”

So they did just that. They dropped their loads, left the worker ant line and scurried off into the high grass. They were gone a long time.

Lulo (winded) said, “Let’s take a break and figure out what we want to do next.”

Lulu (out of breath) gasped, “Thank God, I can’t take another step. My six legs are worn out.”

They found several small insects and had lunch. After a few seconds, Lula broke the silence and asked, “What are we going to do? We just can’t rove around doing nothing.”