It was utter chaos in the colony
All gone-
The days of wet soil
The days of sweet sunshine and
The perfume of the earth
Wafting into the den of the humming city
Long gone, long gone
In the turning of the world
Earth-shaking
Tilting
Rumbling
Trembling

It was the breakdown of civilization
No food, no food, no food
Larvae dying
Light blinding
The heat, the heat, the heat
Bitter anarchy
Brother trampling brother, sister eating sister
A few weak voices
Tremble in the darkness
The voices of the old, pleading with the others-
“We are not forgotten
We will be provided for-
Do you not remember
The hills of bread? The rivers of honey?
All is not lost
Have faith, have faith”
The rest share knowing glances
They smile
But there is nothing but bitterness

An eternity passes
Too many have died
A suffering army of ghosts
Shuffling around, clinging on to the last threads of life

The little girl set the plastic box on the ground
She crouched down and peered inside
And gently opened the lid

A torrent of air slams into the colony’s survivors
Could this be…?
The dull eyes come to life; creaky, dusty limbs begin to tread
They crawl out into the sun, onto the earth, back into the world
“The earth!” they sing
“The earth has returned!
Days of plenty are on the horizon
We are in the land flowing
With milk and honey”
Hearts rush with blood and pump, pump, pump
They are the ones who survived-
Yes, they are alive!

The girl watches the colony spread out in their new home
Already scuttling around, feeling, smelling, digging, building
“Ungrateful creatures,” she sighs fondly
“And not a single look back at me!”
The ants continue on their way, oblivious
“Enjoy your new house
Daddy says we need to stay here during the hurricane
He says your old house’s probably already been blown away”
She rummages in her pocket and pulls out a biscuit
And places it next to the swarm of ants, as usual
She dusts off her hands, very matter-of-factly
And stands up, stretches, and marches back towards her grandparent’s house