Hey, I am Nina, an ant in the forest. Often, weird creatures come and take, hunt or kill our friends in the jungle. It has a good effect on us as well—as the creatures come, we flee, but the creatures stomp on us and after that, it’s all R.I.P. Enough of that, my parents always say I am a curious little thing. One day, I went to a place outside the forest, which the gigantic creatures call a ‘CITY’. So, this is what happened.
I was getting bored in our home as usual, wondering where the giants came from. At long last, I decided to ask my grandma, who was an adventurer and quite active for her age. So, I meekly asked her the question. She told me they generally come from outside the forest. I felt kind of excited. Since I am almost grown-up, I was allowed to roam around by myself. Thank God! My mom and dad were out of town and had taken my little brother with them.
I went out to seek answers to the questions I had in my mind. I went carefully and quietly in the forest, frightened of what might happen to me. I saw very bright rays of the sun as I was standing near the last range of trees, and that’s where the ‘city’ begins.
I fearfully went ahead. I went ahead of the trees that stood so near the edge of the forest. As I went ahead, I saw thousands–if not millions–of ‘giants’, walking on two legs. My brother and I always find it rather funny. I went along the edge of the forest and went to a lonely corner; I was very excited about it. I slowly went into a path called ‘lane’. I went in there still trembling with excitement. A few of the giants were in the lane in groups, talking in a weird language that I did not understand.
As I kept going on the lane, I saw what they label as a house. I went inside one. It was gigantic, just as they were, or should I say, bigger than themselves. The house had lots of what they called ‘furniture’. I remembered later that I touched one. I was almost shocked to death! It was made of wood!
The humans (that’s what the giants are called, I learned later) were still talking an unknown language. It kind of reminded me of Miss Blackberry’s classes. As I remembered the classes, I remembered her teaching us the language.
Human 1: “Do you wanna go to India for the hols?” Human 2: “Na… I don’t…”
Before the human finished the sentence, I decided to go to the woods again to tell grandma of my adventure. I sighed. Not very excited, you know. But you know what they say, “Expect the unexpected.” As I was going to the forest, a human almost stepped on me! I got away from the first leg, but the second leg…tore one of my legs! I limped all the way to the forest and went straight to my grandma. When she saw my condition, she immediately called the doctor, who fixed my limp and gave me a wooden leg.
That is the end of my adventure!
ACTIVITY: No Hols This Year!
Based on the story, ʻAn Antʼs Adventureʼ, why do you think the humans did not want to go to India on their holidays?
