The hungry ant and the big bean

What next

  When I finished telling my mum about what I saw on the wonderful and adventurous journey, with all the scary things and the predators that attacked me on the way, I told her about my newest friend the wasp. I told her how she came to me when I was down and helped me up to the spring where I revived myself. I highlighted the fact that after looking at her and talking to her (a very beautiful stranger), I didn't encounter any bad luck or the signs of bad luck.

"So what are you trying to say son?" She interrupted me looking sternly. For a moment now, it was as if everyone had forgotten that I was once missing but now found. "Well" I continued slowly, "I'm trying to say that looking into the face of a very beautiful stranger can not cause any bad luck. It is...." "Shurru!" She scolded me "you are trying to say that the long existing belief is a lie? What? That I quoting it is a fool. Look, the fact that you treaded the same distance that your elders do tread everyday in search of food doesn't make you any wiser than your age." I stood my ground, "no mum, I didn't mean to say that you are a fool. But I think that the superstitious belief is wrong. It may have been spoken by a man who such a thing happened to as a coincidence and everyone took it as truly a belief. I ..." My mum couldn't listen any further. "Alright son, enough. You have not yet eaten let's get you something to eat. You are back, we can't keep acting as if you are not back for when you were away, nobody felt comfortable. Now, allow me to heave a sigh of relief." "Okay mum." I said and got to a seat and sat down. Still I was not satisfied with my turn out.

While she was dishing out food for me, I asked her, "if the superstitious belief was real, why did my dad Marry you? He loved you when he met you because you were beautiful and you were a stranger when he had not met you. So, why didn't he look away when he saw you? And since he married you, have any bad luck befallen us?" She was very quiet for a long time as if she was thinking about what I just said. Then she quietly warned me, "No more of that rubbish." "Sorry mum" I said.

My mum said that I could not be wiser than my age but she that was grown up, despite her wisdom and learnedness and experience still held on superstitious beliefs that she had been fed with when she was a kid and was too stubborn to let go of it. This time, it was as if I was disappointed in my mum.

"Son, when you have finished eating, go get some rest because you look so tired" she said to me as she moved to her room and kissed me on the head. "Thanks mum" I told her. I ate like someone who had arrived at a Paradise after staying long days in hell. Mum told me that hell was a place where bad people who die go to be mercilessly burnt with fire for being bad. When she told me this, I panicked. It was as if I was there already. I asked her, "can't the person run out of the fire?" She replied, "no son, this fire is not an ordinary fire or our common cooking fire. It is a spiritual, everlasting fire and the person in there cannot die but will burn forever." I was shocked. I remembered when once my index finger got burnt while I was roasting raw oats, I cried all day. I couldn't imagine what it was like to be burnt on the whole body for a long time, talk more forever. I asked her again, "what if I mistakenly become bad?" "Then you ask the maker for forgiveness and you will enter the Paradise. Well, it all depends on how sorry you are because if it's not from your heart and you are doing it just to get a pass, you are done for." Then, I swore not to do anything that would lead me to that terrible place.

I had never wanted to go to sleep but remembering that horrible feeling got me scared that after eating, I went to my room and laid on my bed fast asleep. As I slept, I dreamt about the female wasp

I was walking with her, holding her hands and cracking jokes with her. That moment, we got to a stream and she took some water with her hands and splashed it on my face. She ran giggling at me. I took my own water and made to run after her and I woke up. I smiled and slowly went back to sleep. It was bad that I won't see her again.

I got into another dream. This time, I was walking around an unusual place and I felt like nothing was wrong. I whistled as I went without expecting anything to happen. Then, I heard a familiar sound coming from behind and I looked back. To my surprise, I saw that ugly lizard that I had seen in the village when I had gone to get food. Strange enough, it spoke to me. It said, "so you think you can escape from me back there in the village, you little, worthless insect." I couldn't say anything as I advanced from it really scared. "You are hungry" it said again, "let me help you and eat you up because you won't even find food here." I took to my heels and mysteriously, I ran as though I was not an ant with tiny heels but a speedy vehicle. I was very far from him before I could know it. I rested for a while panting.

Not very long, it was close to me again and I took off running into a little building. I hid behind the walls of the building. Unknown to me, I had made a terrible mistake. I didn't notice until I heard someone say, "look what is here; meat." I turned only to see a large number of lizards staring at me. There were big ones and little ones and large ones too. Then, the lizard chasing me got in blocking the entrance. It said, "nowhere to run to now dude or am I missing anything?" One of the largest lizard said, "you know we got it first so, you had better know what to do about it." "I have to kill it first before it escapes" it replied. I was like, "please, don't kill me" but they were still arguing over me. "No you prankster. You want to run away with it. Let me kill it myself." Then, 'bang!' a g*n blast landed into the building and the lizard beside me groaned and rolled on the floor. I looked up to see my beloved wasp dressed in an army uniform and holding a sniper rifle. I felt impressed and relieved to see her.

She shot down more lizards and flew down shouting, "jump onto my back let me get you out of here." And I obliged and she flew away with me. As we were up in the sky, I did my best to thank her but she looked more busy. Then, I heard someone say, "damnit! You missed." "Who missed?" I asked then, I woke up. All the g*n blast sounds were coming from my friends playing football. I went out to join them.

"Look who is here." One of my friends said on seeing me. "Why have we not seen you for a long time now?" Another asked and I said, "it is more of a long story." Soon, I joined the match and was happy to be back home.

The dream I had made me realize that life is war and it motivated me to be strong as my dad had always wanted me to be."