We realised that summer was coming to an end with the winds starting to blow from the north, yet just a few days ago it felt like this summer would never finish. Whatever happened, it happened in those days.
When one of our friends informed us of their discovery, those who saw it as an opportunity had already started ransacking the place before we could even get there.
I was always very curious about them; they always waited while we worked. According to what I learned from my elders, they had very sacred duties and were protecting our lineage. As I carried the food I found inside, I would watch them out of the corner of my eye. Once, I even got a severe telling-off for blocking the way when I drifted off while watching them…
The messengers wasted no time; from the commotion inside, it didn’t take me long to realise that something was wrong. I was watching the soldiers marching out in sequence and in step, but quickly. Many of my friends were in their direction of exit. I was astonished by the speed with which a path was opened for the soldiers’ passage. Yet, hundreds of soldiers had exited within a few minutes and had already started moving fast to reach the point of attack, which I suppose was a fifteen-minute journey away. I had never seen a war before. I was still very young and hadn’t been trained to fight. Our lives had always been about peace and adapting to the conditions of nature.
When the soldiers’ passage was over, I saw my friends, who were rushing to pile up food shoulder-to-shoulder, swiftly following behind them. I still can’t understand why I followed them without a second thought, not even a moment of hesitation. After all, until then, I had never even been in the slightest argument, let alone a war.
During that walk, which felt very long to me, I wasn’t thinking about anything. We were just moving quickly towards our target. We had already reached the battlefield, which I realised later. I could immediately distinguish those who were not like us around us. I was very surprised at that moment. We were numerically superior. Hundreds of our soldiers were surrounding the area in a circle. The enemy was trapped in the middle. I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were very few in number, but much stronger and larger than us. In fact, they looked very similar to us, but they were twice our size, and some of them had two heads.
I was scared.
It wasn’t long. Our soldiers had already taken their positions. I understood that the war was about to begin. The vanguards darted towards the enemy. Immediately after, our other soldiers started climbing on top of each other. Now, we were as big and strong as them.
Some of our vanguards attacked when they reached the opposing side and couldn’t return. They didn’t hesitate for a moment to sacrifice their own lives for their people, right there and then. The enemy was forced to retreat with this effective bomb attack, and our soldiers didn’t even feel the need to pursue them; repelling the attack was enough for them. They were so confident that they wouldn’t return with reinforcements that as soon as the enemy disappeared from sight, they returned at the same speed they had arrived.
Everything happened and was over within a few minutes. We were left alone with the food. While I was trying to understand what had happened, my friends had already loaded up the food and started heading back. I found myself joining them in the task of carrying the load.
We managed to transport enough food there to last the whole winter.
And now the wind had intensified, and the northern cold had begun to blow. We were all in our homes by the time nature warned us to return to our nests.
We would be here until the white blanket lifted from above us. The workers, including me, and the warriors tasked with protecting our Queen and her people.
We are the ants.
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