When Alice came to,
the first sensation she experienced was the feeling of crumpled tall grass getting its get back by prickling her shoulders. The sun blinded her, and lifting her palm to protect her eyes from direct sunlight proved futile, seeing as the light seemed to come from everywhere. Just as she started to regain her vision, she spotted a group of ants marching over her chest. All the ants were clothed, and all but one wore just the safety vest and a hard hat. The one dressed differently was adorned with a sash on top of the vest and the hard hat combo. Alice guessed that the reflective panels were to blame for the all-directional attack on her eyes. As her vision got clearer, she noticed the one with the sash get a little bit closer.“Good evening”, he proclaimed.
Alice gasped, but immediately apologized: “I’m sorry, it’s the first that I’ve seen an ant speak. Do all of you possess such an ability, or is it only you, the leader, who is blessed with a voice?”
“We have never been personally acquainted with a creature of your kind yet, so I am inclined to forgive you on behalf of myself and of my colleagues. But you are mistaken to believe me greater to- or the leader of- my friends back there. I am marked with this string because of my voice, which is much louder by nature. That way other groups know I’m the one they should communicate with. Do creatures like you only wear string when they command others? I see you are also adorned with a red one around your limb, that is why we decided to address you,” replied the one with the sash.
Alice glanced at the red string around her wrist and back at the ant, and said, “We humans rarely dress identically! This string is part of a human folk tradition and is very personal to the one wearing it. The way you wear your string reminded me of a mayor sash, so I-“
“I am sorry,” the ant interrupted, “but my colleagues remind me we are pressed for time and should not dilly-dally for too long. In an effort to not part ways without purpose, may I direct you further down the bank? You will find many who are willing to converse there, I am sure of that. Have a nice day.”
Having said that, the ant got back to the group and they all scurried further into the uncrumpled grass in an orderly line. Alice got up and noticed she wasn’t in a field, more so in a small clearing surrounded by trees, which she couldn’t see lying down. Finally having the chance to make sense of her surroundings, she noticed the sound of water flowing down and over the rapids, the sound of the taller trees creaking in the wind, the sparrows singing. Upright, she also saw the small stream from which the water ambience came, winding down the forest, and decided to follow it as per the ants’ advice. Skipping over fallen branches, she nearly squished a caterpillar, which looked at her quite angrily in turn.
“What are you doing! What are you doing!? Can’t you mind your giant steps?” loudly reprimanded her a robin, who happened to be flying by. So furious it got, it sent Alice back to where she came from, and she didn’t manage to get a chance to learn from such experience. She lived to squish a few bugs and she deemed ants with strings to be the leaders. Such an egocentric attitude she kept.
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