|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:24 pm
Had Xinavane been older, she might have seen the poetry in the situation between her and her sister, the same only inverted in color... but at the moment, the only thing on her mind was 'challenge' and that was something which could absolutly not be dropped! Really, it wasn't about winning or losing so much... though winning was still better, but for Xinavane, what she really wanted to do was have fun! Really, she was still a cub, and that was what mattered to her. And this sort of thing... hunting with her sister, that made her happy.
She looked up abruptly when she heard that Latasha had found a few, and then she bounded over. Really, Xinavane could only sniff at the very few that her sister had discovered. That would be no fun at all... but at least they weren't driver ants, then they wouldn't be able to catch any without getting hurt... which would certainly make their little outing much less fun.
"Well... this is no good." She muttered under her breath, before she smiled, spotting one ant heading away with part of the locust. That would mean he was taking his catch home... the worker was headed home. And home was where they wanted to be. "Come on, we'll follow that one back to their hill!" She said, following after the little ant, and some of his comrads who began to join his treck home.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:07 pm
Yeah, who cared about poetry? There were small wriggly creatures to watch! Even if there were only a few ants, they were still fun to watch. “How do you think they know where to go? Can they even see? I don’t see any eyes on them… but, if they’re blind, then they must have a super-duper sense of hearing! But they’re not moving away from us and we’re talking…” actually, it occurred to Latasha right then that she was the one doing all the talking and Xin was doing all the watching. Shutting her mouth, the white cub tilted her head to one side and focused on the ant’s stumbling trail.
The silence lasted for a whole five seconds. “That’s a really big piece of grasshopper,” she said eventually, her mind seizing on something new. “It’s bigger than the ant!” Having been bitten by a driver ant before, Latasha knew just how strong the little insects could be, but it always amazed her. It was simply one of those little things that she couldn’t understand, no matter how much she thought about it.
The ant had a very specific goal in mind. That much was obvious from the determined way that it scampered around. Unfortunately, that goal seemed to be to run into every rock, pebble, invisible bump possible. Because of this, it took the ant a good fifteen minutes to find its way back to the little mound where it lived. It disappeared down the hole. A steady trickle of small black ants moved in and out of the hole, most of them following the trail that the grasshopper-carrying ant had just set.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:24 pm
Xinavane couldn't help but grin. She honestly had no idea what ants looked like up close, or if they had eyes... or anything like that. Really, wouldn't they? But they had a bunch of legs... and funny things sticking out of their heads... and a huge bum, none of which made any sense when she thought about it. Did they even have ears? Now that was something that she couldn't help but voice, "Do... bugs even have ears?" Really, she couldn't see any... but it looked like they might have eyes. Maybe they couldn't hear?
"Yeah... ants are really strong." Xinavane mentioned, watching the large peice of bug they were carrying, "I wonder, if there were enough of them, do you think that they could carry us away?" She doubted it, since she had crushed ants before... though not really on purpose, because she didn't see a lot of value in killing something so much smaller than her. She had tried to eat one once... but it hadn't tasted all that great.
Xinavane grinned as they found the ant hill, "Okay... so here's what we do, try and stop the ants from getting back into their hole!" She lept forwards, blocking the ants' path with her paws, and continued to move as they tried to get around her. She managed to block them at every turn... but eventually she had to lie down to stop them from getting past her, "Hel me Tasha!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:05 pm
“I dunno. It doesn’t look like they have ears… we should ask Mom or Dad when we get home.” Tonight would certainly be an interesting night for Lololi and Yanisin. The questions really were beginning to pile up in Latasha’s mind. Briefly, she examined her sister’s ears before returning her attention to the ants, trying to find even a hint of a nub on them. “Maybe those funny things coming from their heads are ears?” she hazarded eventually. It didn’t look right. She hadn’t seen big long ears like… oh, wait! “Maybe they’re like hares! They’ve got those big long ears!”
“If there were enough of them, I bet they could carry us away. Remember how Mom always warns us to stay away from the big ants? Like the one that bit me before? She said that they could carry off lion cubs who didn’t go to bed when told.” When she was younger, it had sounded utterly believable. These days, it was still believable, but it had been downgraded from ‘utterly’ to a mere ‘likely’. These thoughts quickly vanished, however, when her sister invited her to stop the ants. Latasha eagerly joined, trying to block off the ant trail with her paws.
But, like her sister, she soon ended up stretching her body across the pathway, trying to steam the flow of the ants. “They tickle!” she said as one tried to climb up her ear. A quick twitch dislodged it and she swatted her paw at the insolent insect.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:24 pm
"...Like hares?" Xinavane asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. Well... she supposed that was plausable, and that meant that she was going to be patiently waiting beside her sister when she asked their parents about it. And probably ask a few herself. "I dunno... they don't look too much like ears... but... maybe..." She shrugged a little. She had never really been a big fan of not having all the answers.
She did giggle a little bit about the idea of being carried off by ants though. It was just a funny thing for her to picture... After all, even as cubs, she and her sister were pretty big. And if they were carried away, then their parents would probably come and rescue them... and really, the image was something she simply couldn't get out of her head. It all seemed highly unlikely, but at the same time... it would be great if it happened! Quite an adventure.
She giggled along with Latasha as the ants began to make their way over the sister. It was really as though nothing could stand in their way! She couldn't help but be impressed by their work ethic, really. Xinavane wondered if this was their idea of fun... "Hehehe... Tasha it tickles all over!" But at least they didn't bite.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:36 pm
“Sure they don’t look like ears to us, but they probably think our ears are funny looking too,” Latasha pointed out, wriggling her little circular ears. “And our ears don’t like hare ears… so, ant ears probably don’t look like our ears either.” It made perfect sense to her! Clearly, those funny thingies on an ant’s head were ears! Although… she frowned, her enthusiasm fading slightly. “Although… they aren’t coming from the sides of their heads… they must be really weird creatures, to have ears like that.”
It was amazing! No matter how much Latasha tried to block the ants’ path, the tiny insects always found a way around. “It’s funny,” Latasha said, once she was done watching the tiny insects’ frantic movements. “I bet you and I could easily knock over their little anthill. But, I bet they would spend forever working on it, no matter how many times we push it over. There’s something… I dunno… moving about that.”
If Latasha was a pessimistic sort, she would have considered the futility of the ants’ activities, and how they would never get anywhere in life. But, she wasn’t the pessimistic sort; instead, she thought the ants were like her parents, never giving up even when the odds seemed stacked against them. That made her… well… proud. It really did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:23 am
"Well... yeah, okay. Maybe they are ears... but I still say they look really funny." Xinavane said, twitching her nose again as she looked at the ants. They still didn't look a whole lot like ears to her... more like really oddly placed whiskers of some kind. "They are pretty wierd looking... I dunno... it's like they could be from another planet!"
Xinavane listened to what her sister said and nodded a little, "I guess... but I wouldn't say that it's moving... it's more like... they're honest. If you know what I mean. They keep on trying, no matter what, to keep their family going and stay happy. They don't let anything or anyone stand in their way. So... maybe not moving... maybe I just... I admire them for being so tough. Nothing can stop them. Not even us when we're so much bigger than they are. That's something."
Xinavane never really pegged herself as being pessimistic, but really she saw herself as realistic. Sure, the ants might never go anywhere, and their homes could be ruined hundreds... no, thousands of times, and they would keep on going. It may be futile, but at least they knew what they wanted and were willing to do anything if it meant going on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:16 pm
“They’re definitely funny-looking,” Latasha agreed somberly. Her eyes lit up brightly at the idea of ants being from another planet. The skies fascinated her, especially the night sky. The day sky simply hurt her eyes, due to the harsh sunlight. But, the night sky was a thing of sublime beauty, simplistic in its dark hues and bright specks of light. The home of the gods, her parents said in hushed tones. Latasha believed that without a doubt; if she was a goddess, she would rather live in that beauty than down here. But only if her family was with her. “I bet you’re right! I bet ants are from another planet! That would explain everything! And I bet that other insects are from other planets too. Like… like crickets from Cricketonia. And ants are from Antopolis. And dung beetles are from… from… a dung planet.” Like most cubs, few things were funnier than excrement, so the idea naturally made Latasha giggle.
The laughter continued, even as her sister waxed thoughtfully on the prospects of ants continuing with their work forever and ever. Well, Xin was certainly right about that. There really was an amazing thing about a creature that would forever toil against the odds. “They’re up against the world. And they’re actually winning,” Latasha added after a moment of thought. “They’re still getting around us, after all, despite our best efforts. Antopolis must have extremely good training programs for that.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:03 pm
That was enough to make Xinavane grin. The idea that every bug was going to be from another planet... now that was something. "I wonder how many of them are out there... planets, I mean. One for every bug, do you think?" She asked thoughtfully, staring off into the sky from where she lay, still trying to block the ants. "I bet the dung planet would be really smelly, don't you?" It would have to be, wouldn't it? "But... I think somewhere like... Dragonflyopia would be pretty cool. They're neat looking bugs..."
She giggled again as more ants climbed over her, "Hard to believe that such small bugs can win such a big fight... the training would have to be pretty good, don't you think? We should try it sometime." She giggled, then stared back up at the sky, "We should bring our sisters and our brother here... mom, dad and aunty too... I bet they would love the view. We could teach them all to do this with ants, don't you think? Maybe one of them can help us figure out where they come from."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:06 pm
“There are a lot of stars out there,” Latasha observed, thinking back to the bright pinpricks of light that glowed in the dark. They knew, she was convinced, the secrets of the fates. After all, stars saw everything that happened in the world! It seemed likely enough that they could see into the future too. And there had to be some sort of pattern to their paths. If she could figure that out, she could tell the future! “I dunno how many planets though… ours doesn’t glow, so I don’t think that other planets glow either. I bet that insects are actually from stars. And Dragonflyopia would be smelly too. Remember how many dragonflies we saw at the swamp and how stinky it was there? But imagine playing in all that water all the time!”
Wow, now that brought a new respect for the little creatures that were currently making a steady path over the sisters. If they were from the stars, then maybe they knew the future too. If they knew, they certainly weren’t talking, at least not in a way that Latasha could understand. “Hey, maybe the others could help us block them too!” She wasn’t sure why that might be fun, but at least it would get the family together and, maybe, just maybe, they would go without an argument for an hour or two.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:01 pm
"Yeah... so many stars you couldn't count them all." Xinavane agreed. It was true... she had tried. But unlike her sister, she didn't think that they were magical, or could tell her the future. They were simply beautiful... so beautiful that she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't have given that sight up for the world, "Well... maybe it wouldn't have to smell. I've heard that they can live in lakes too... but I've never really seen a lake... so maybe it wouldn't smell too bad. And who knows? Maybe our planet glows."
"I bet they could!" Xinavane nodded enthusiasticly, standing up and shaking off all the ants that had crawlen on her, "Mom and dad are pretty big! Aunty too! And with our sisters and our brother!" She paused for a moment and grinned a little, "But... somehow I think that they would still win. We could try... but they will win. Because they know what they want... and they'll do whatever they have to do to get it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:41 pm
Latasha looked down at the ground, scrutinizing the dirt for even a tiny glimmer of glow. “I don’t see anything glowing,” she said doubtfully. But, then she brightened up as something occurred to her mind. “You know those little flies that glow in the dark? The ones that taste really funny? Do you think there are enough of those in the world to make it glow like those stars? Maybe all stars have those little flies… but then where did they come from originally? The sun?” Ohhh… that made some sense! The sun was brighter than anything else in the universe, so that must be where fireflies came from! And then they spread to other stars and made them bright too! It made so much sense!
“Let’s go get the others,” the white cub suggested. Getting up, she shook herself off as best she could, trying to dislodge as many of the tiny ants as possible. “I’ll race you back home, Xin!” With the challenge spoken, Latasha started to race off, giggling madly. Yeah, she had a headstart. Yes, it was cheating. But, it was all in the spirit of fun, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:00 pm
Xinavane nodded, understanding what her sister was saying. None of it would have suprised her, really. "I bet that there are enough fireflies in the world to light the whole thing... we're probably just as bright as the sun!" And the idea of the bugs coming from the sun was all the better! Especially since it went hand-in-hand with her 'bugs are aliens' theory. "The sun must really be the planet of the fireflies!" She declared excitedly.
"Ha! As though you could ever beat me!" Xinavane cried out, running after her sister, grinning wildly. She was absolutly positive that they had finally found an activity that their whole family could do together... and maybe something innocent enough that for once, they would be able to forget all their problems.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:14 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
