The hungry ant and the big bean

Parting with the big Bean

It's been months since I reunited with my family. Soon, everything have returned to what they used to be. The boys cleaning the landscape of our home, the girls going to the spring for water, the men (working ants) parade in a lineup to the village square to get food. And I with my dad visited the farm.

My mum once said something on the day I came back from my journey which baffled me. She said, "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 had thought that they just got food from nearby places. I couldn't believe that what I felt was my dangerous journey was their daily routine. Looking at the way in which they returned peacefully, one would think that the journey was always smooth. Nobody would even believe that they saw anything. But actually, they met a lot of predators that were much more dangerous than the ones I met on my own journey. She told me that once, they were attacked by a human being while they were crossing a little building. He was a little boy who just came out of the house and became excited to see the line up of ants. He picked up a stick and began to scatter them. To him it was fun but to the poor ants, he was terrorising them. Sometimes, these tireless workers would come back with inadequate food supplying and I would think that it was out of tiredness or laziness but now, I saw more than that. Well, nothing in life is easy.

An intelligent man once said that you will not know the value of what you have until you lose it. Imagine the working ants decide that they won't go anywhere, we will run short of food. Next, hunger will set in and we will soon start eating up one another. I won't say we will die because ants don't decide to die. We do all we can to live.

As time went on, things were no longer as they used to be anymore. The food supplied by the working ants began to run down and the ants came back with smaller supplies everyday. News came that due to an emerging famine, the villagers evacuated from their normal position to another place. They only left behind few leftover foods which began to shorten day by day. Oh, our home. If only we were living in a tropical or fertile place. We were situated in a dessert and it was gradually encroaching towards the village. That was why it was not possible to get food close by.

It began to get more tough and this time, the food supplied could not reach everyone. I was compelled to join them once to make sure that food reached my home. The journey this time was no longer dangerous but fun and still adventurous. I was startled whenever I heard a hawk screech and fly by. The ant beside me assured me that I should not be afraid that it won't see. When I told him that a hawk was able to see me and attack me on my lonely journey, he said that it was because it flew down. We made the journey and collected as much leftovers as we could and came back.

What about the big Bean which I collected? It was still in the store almost forgotten. I liked it that way as I always looked at it to remember my long, adventurous journey and how happy I felt when I found it. Also, it kept reminding me of the female wasp. But, it would not be for long for one day, we had to eat it.

     It was when things got worse. The working ants reported that the leftover foods which they have been collecting have finished and their was no other place to get food around. Our king said it was not worthwhile for us to starve when their was something to be done. He told them that they had to go as far as the villagers had gone till they found find food. It was going to be a terribly long journey 

 Then, the working ants had complained that the leftover foods have finished. This drew the attention of our king. He had to do something to curb the food scarcity. He announced to the working ants that they had to go as far as the villagers had gone to look for food. It was going to be a tougher journey so more men were added to them, including my dad. It also would be a much longer journey and it could take them days to go and come back. To ensure their safety, the king mobilized them with enough soldier ants who would guide them on the journey. 

      As they were leaving, some of the mens' wives were already shedding tears of fate as they never knew what would become of them. The kids who didn't know what was going on were just staring in dismay. They felt They were going for their normal daily journey. They never expected not to see them again.

      We all went out and saw them off to the top of our home and wished them well. As they left, everyone just kept staring until they were out of sight. Then, everybody was quite. "Will they come back?" I asked no one in particular. Everyone quietly returned to his home. Of course, they were going to return. You know, a wise man once said, that only the brave survive but that doesn't mean that everyone is brave. The teaming up of everyone even empower the weak to feel brave. All we had to do was to pray that they returned in peace. 

       Two days after they were gone, the real food scarcity began. Everyone was so hungry. All our foodstuffs were finished. I and my brother's eyes began to bulge out of their sockets. Our mum didn't look affected. She only yawned all days. I heard that humans could stay without food for days and with what I was seeing, I don't think it was true. But, it still could be true.

Maybe just as we ants can stay days without sleeping, they too could withstand hunger for long. 

    There I was weak, eating a few nuts that I could find and looking around hopelessly until I couldn't look anymore. "Tobey!" My mum called me as though their was a good news. When I answered her, she asked me to get that my Bean so we could eat. I was lost in thought wondering whether it was ok for us to eat something which was so dear to me. As though she was reading my mind, she said, "get it fast. It's not for decoration." I quickly got it. I should have fought for it but I couldn't help myself. I too was very hungry. It was the only sacrifice I had to make to help us out. All I knew was that, I was going to miss it.

Mum, prepared it and my mouth began to water. We couldn't wait to eat up the unexpected meal. Soon, it was done and we were set to eat. This meal reminded me of the story mum had once told us about poor woman who sacrificed her last meal to a prophet and God gave her more. It was her comment that I remembered, "just this last meal we shall eat and die." Are we really going to die after eating this meal? No, not at all because we're expecting our people to come back with food. After eating, I said quietly, "goodbye Bean"