An Overconfident Ant

• Florence Leung , Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2022

Bump! Gerry tripped over a tiny pebble and accidentally dropped the food he was carrying. Another ant, Sally, rushed over to help him get up.

“I don’t need help, thank you very much,” Gerry said, getting up and brushing his knees.

Sally frowned and replied, “I can give you a hand. Many of the ants have a seat for some ants to sit on. Everyone's working together to carry heavy food.”

She pointed to a group of ants who were carrying a big slice of bread. They were trying not to fall on their knees. One of the ants noticed them and waved. “Eh, whatever. I’m stronger and faster than the two of you!” Gerry answered and ignored her.

The ants started to depart again, so Gerry was determined to catch up with the ant at the front. Then suddenly, something shiny caught Gerry’s eye, and he swung around. There was no shine anymore. Feeling suspicious, Gerry turned back around but was surprised to see not an ant was there. His heart plummeted to the ground, but then he thought, “I will soon catch up as I am the strongest and I don’t need help!”. How very wrong he was. Every step felt like the tiny crumb of bread Gerry was holding was getting heavier. Sweat the size of pebbles came drizzling down his forehead, as the sun decided not to spare him. A glimpse of shiny object suddenly appeared in the bush next to him.

Gerry, who was determined to catch it this time, quickly turned around. A massive shadow emerged and suddenly sank into the bushes. Gerry threw away the crumb so that he could easily run towards the bush. Excited, Gerry slid under the bush and squeezed out on the other side. He saw a huge pile of food! He would show everyone in the Ant Tribe that he was not an ant you should mess with! BOOM. “What was that?” Gerry swung around.

SWISH! Gerry shivered madly. There, at that second, he met the Great Beetle Tribe. He could see the beetles' saliva, dripping from their watering mouths. All of the beetles licked their lips. Gerry was shaking like a leaf in a storm as they leaned closer. RUSTLE, RUSTLE. The bush made a light movement. “CHARGE!” An army of ants charged in and Sally rushed to Gerry. “Are you okay? Don’t go off like that! I noticed you weren’t there, so - oh, just leave!” Sally cried pushing Gerry towards the bush. No, Gerry couldn’t just leave them there! He needed to help!

Gerry shook free of her grasp and raced back to the tribe. Gerry told the ants how beetles are scared of spiders and how they should use that to their advantage. Everyone climbed onto one another to create an enormous silhouette of a spider. The beetles whimpered and slowly backed away into the background. Sally beamed at Gerry and he smiled back.