Prologue

 

Not so long ago a young boy was lying on his stomach, reading about knights and soldiers, when he noticed a tiny white egg on one of the pages.

 

From this egg an ant emerged, and the boy trained it to walk on two feet, use swords and carry a shield. The ant’s name was Moresby.

But tragedy struck! A fierce storm swept across the land. It picked up Moresby from his shelter and carried him far away.

Moresby is still trying to get home today and everywhere he travels his legend grows.

It is the legend of an ant who defends the rights of lesser insects, who vanquishes evil.

 

This is the tale of Moresby and…..

 

  

Kim Long

As Moresby climbed he wondered if he had made the right choice.  The fence had few foot holes and the folds in it meant a predator could ambush him. Moresby froze. Just over the crest was a large creature which was looking the other way. It wasn’t a lizard, but it was possibly dangerous. He took a step backwards.

‘Relax my friend, little ant.’

It was a foreign accent and musical. Moresby withdrew two swords and his shield and prepared to fight.

‘Ha ha! Even a hare will bite when it is cornered,’ laughed the creature, without turning around.

Moresby’s eyes narrowed. This creature must have been watching and waiting for him. It slowly turned. ‘On this fence you look like a flea on a bald head.’

It was a cricket. Flat, spiky, with long antennae! Possibly a moustache! And possibly friendly!

Moresby glanced around in case there were others creeping up on him.

‘Oh don’t worry. We crickets don’t really like the taste of ants. Well I don’t anyway. Of course we’ll eat ants if there is nothing else, but there is plenty around here to eat.   The bin lid is broken, so I often eat fruit, cornflakes, oats; whatever I want.’

‘What do you want?’ asked Moresby, lowering his swords, but keeping them drawn.

‘Well, you are right when you think I’ve been watching you. Strange little fellow with swords and a shield! You are the sort of ant who may well destroy a whole dam. Ha ha!’

Moresby smiled.

‘Well, I must say it suits you to smile. You are smiling aren’t you? It is quite hard to tell from this distance, and you being so small.   A smile will gain you ten more years of life, and for an ant that is a lot. I am rambling but well, I just wanted company for a while, truth be known.’

Before Moresby could nod, the cricket continued.

‘And as a sign of my faith, I’ll tell you that just over that rise is a lizard. Mongrel thing would love to get its mouth around you or me. Me more than you because of my fame! Imagine, a lizard wanting to eat me – the wise and clever Kim Long Cricket.’

Moresby looked in the direction being indicated, and was just in time to see the lizard dart forward.

‘Jump!’ Moresby yelled, as he threw himself off the fence. As he tumbled, he tried to slow his fall by spreading his legs. He threw aside his swords and shield and looked at the brick path he was falling towards. ‘This is going to hurt,’ he thought. And it did!

He lay there for a while, feeling the cool breeze upon his antennae and knowing they hadn’t been damaged. He lifted his head, thorax and abdomen and groaned as he stood on two legs.

From behind him came the sound of laughter. ‘Oh my friend, paper can’t wrap up fire. A wise move to jump!’

Kim Long cricket was behind him. Moresby turned, and lowered his head in a bow, the traditional way to greet insects. Moresby’s world spun momentarily. He swayed and then stood straight. ‘Thank you Kim Long. My name is Moresby!’

‘Well Moresby, your swords and shield are just over there. It was smart to throw them. You might well have ended up with one in yourself! Like the one who shot an arrow straight up and watched where it fell, and lost an eye!’ Kim Long laughed.

Moresby stumbled dizzily to his swords. He also found his shield and strapped it onto his back.

‘Come on! That fence was too big anyway. I’ll show you a crack where we can get through, if you still want to go that way.’

‘West is the way I must go,’ answered Moresby.

‘You’re an unusual ant Moresby, if ever I met one. Knowing the way of the sun, and all by himself in the world. I am a cricket with an appetite for stories. Tell me yours.’

As they set off together, Moresby unfolded his story to Kim Long. He told of his life with a young man, who had talked constantly to him, who had watched the little feeler movements that Moresby sent his way, and who had learned to communicate with him. Of the bond that had developed between man and mini-beast!

Moresby walked, but Kim Long took small jumps. Every now and then he would make a huge leap, then wait for Moresby to catch up. They talked about life and their adventures. Even though they were of different species, both Moresby and Kim Long discovered a friend whom they had long sought. They crawled through a gap and along a red brick garden border. They climbed onto a paved area and suddenly Moresby stood still.

‘What is the matter my friend?’ Kim Long asked

‘I don’t know! Something is up there.’ Moresby pointed to a large, flat, green surface, suspended on four legs.

‘It is a human’s table. Better to stay away,’ urged Kim Long.

‘I have a feeling I am needed there.’

‘Once on a tiger’s back it is hard to alight.’

Moresby stood on the hot bricks and looked up at the green table. It was old and cracked, and underneath was a dark, shadow-filled area.

‘Those dark places mean death to a cricket!’ said Kim Long.

‘You don’t have to come friend. You could wait here.’

Kim Long saw the eagerness in Moresby’s eyes. He nodded and said, ‘An adventure missed is life passed by.’

Moresby placed his antennae against the table leg. ‘There is the faintest rhythm of ant movement on the table, but it seems wrong somehow.’

Kim Long turned his head to look quizzically at Moresby. ‘Wrong?’

‘I don’t know! We ants live in dark places. So there is a feel about the way we move underground. What is happening up there is underground movement, but on the human table. It is almost as though the ants, if that is what they are, have light underground.’

‘What does it matter to you? You have to go west.’

Moresby didn’t answer. He was busy concentrating on the sound that crept through the table legs.

‘You are going up regardless aren’t you?’

Moresby nodded. ‘There may be ants in trouble. I must!’

‘A little ant may get into big trouble. I shall come along.’

The two new friends began the slow climb up the smooth table leg. They had to concentrate on each foot hold and as they advanced the danger seemed to creep into them, so they stopped talking, and continued in silence.

It wasn’t long before they were drawing close to the shadows beneath the table, and their eyes were able to adjust. The darkness held webs of a dozen different sizes, shapes and spiders.

Kim Long frowned. ‘You can sneak past this way and the spiders will not even notice, however, I would cause a small war. A war of spiders fighting over which parts of me they would enjoy most. Knowing the fruitlessness of war, I will find another way.’

‘What about over there?’ Moresby pointed to another of the table legs, free of webs.

‘You are correct Moresby. I’ll go back down, and climb up again and I’ll see you on top.’

Kim Long pulled up his legs and jumped, and Moresby ran past the webs and made his way to the top of the table. And then he marveled at what was before him.

There were seven small glass containers, each rectangular shaped, and no thicker than a centimetre, and they were connected by thin tubes. Everything was shiny – glass or plastic. But the most unusual thing was they were full of ants. There were ant eggs in one section, workers in another! Ants crawled along tubes! The queen was visible, pumping out new eggs. New tunnels were being dug.

The puzzle had been solved. The ants were in their colony, but the colony was exposed to light on all sides.

Moresby sniffed. The sweet smell of honey came from one of the containers. He rushed forward, up the outside of the container to its top. He crawled along and found a smear of honey. And he began to eat.

‘Ho! Moresby! Come down here!’ It was Kim Long.

‘No! You come up here! There is enough honey for us both.’

Kim Long leaped up onto the glass and crawled to Moresby. ‘I don’t like it here,’ he said, dipping his tongue into the honey and rolling his eyes up in delight. ‘This is so nice. What is it?’

‘Bees make it. It is called honey,’ answered Moresby as he took another mouthful. ‘This is the most unusual colony I’ve seen. The humans have made it I think. I must talk to these ants and find out more.’

‘Something is wrong,’ muttered Kim Long. ‘It is not natural – I don’t like it.’

‘I’d love to get in there and talk to them,’ said Moresby, as he began to search the containers. ‘But I think it is sealed.’

Suddenly, a human was striding towards the table. ‘A cricket,’ he yelled. ‘The ants will love this.’

Kim Long leaped and the human hand slammed down, where he had been only moments beforehand. Kim landed at the edge of the table.

‘Go Kim!’ called Moresby.

The human tried again, but again Kim Long escaped, landing on the pavement. Moresby ran along the container, trying to see what was happening.   Then the human dived to the ground and stood up with Kim Long in his hand.

‘No!’ Moresby cried in horror as the human pulled a lid off one of the containers and dropped Kim Long inside, to be eaten by the ants. Moresby shuddered when he realised what he had to do to try to save his new friend.

He ran from his hiding place and waved his feelers in the air in front of the dangerous human.

‘Oh no! One of the ants has escaped,’ the human cried as he leaned over Moresby and moved his huge fingers towards him.

The human gently picked up Moresby, removed the cover again and plonked him in the colony with Kim Long, who already had two ants sinking their pincers into him.

‘This will be interesting,’ the human said. ‘This ant is from a different colony.’

Moresby darted towards one of the ants attacking Kim Long, and nipped him once on the back of the head. The ant squealed and ran off and his companion followed.

Kim Long stopped twisting and his legs stopped kicking. ‘Oh Moresby, my friend, you have made a mistake coming in here. You stand out as much as me. Two cranes amidst a flock of pigeons!’

‘I don’t desert my friends Kim! There is hope yet, but we must hurry.’

‘Tell me what to do.’

‘The human has placed us into the end container and there are only two entrances. If I can chase out the ants and seal the container we may be able to survive a while longer.’

‘I can’t help Moresby. I can hardly move.’

Moresby felt his stomach drop. ‘Has the human squeezed you too hard?’

‘No, it is just that the colony is so thin.’

Moresby laughed with relief. ‘Good! Perfect actually. All you have to do is stay at this entrance. It is small, and your legs are strong. If anything comes this way, kick them like your life depends on it, because it does.’

Moresby descended into a tunnel where he found a few ants, but he sent them scurrying by shouting out that his army was close behind. The few ants tripped over themselves in their efforts to escape through a second, lower plastic tube, back to another part of the colony. All of the time, Moresby kept seeing huge human eyes tracking his every move; oh how it drained him.

And then, Moresby found the tube that the ants had escaped through. It connected this section to the rest of the nest. He grabbed dirt from the tunnel and packed it into the tube as tight as he could and, using his sword, he levered small pebbles inside as well. The dirt was rammed in hard, nonetheless it wouldn’t take an army of ants long to clear.

Moresby then ran back to where an exhausted Kim Long lay. The ant colony had increased its efforts to get at him, so he had been constantly kicking at them.

‘I’ll give you a rest Kim,’ called Moresby as he stood in front of the tunnel, with his two swords in hand.

‘How can you keep them back my friend?’

‘The tunnel is so small, only one can attack at a time. Their whole army has been reduced to the power of one.’

Moresby swung his swords lightly and with skill. The attacking ant leaped back in shock but was pushed forward again. Moresby had no choice but to slice off one of his antennae.

The ant turned and pushed past his companions.

‘Is there any chance of talking to them and persuading them we are not the enemy?’

Moresby shook his head. ‘They are a strange breed. I’m not sure what they understand.’

Another ant leapt forward, only to be met by Moresby’s slashing sword. He also swung around and pushed his way back through the line of ants, all assembled to try to breech the other part of the colony.

‘You have a chance Moresby. If you leave me you might be able to fit in with them. Crows everywhere are black.’

‘They will breech the blockage in the bottom tunnel at some point. Then we are in trouble but until then, we take turns keeping this tunnel closed.’

‘We can’t keep it closed forever. We must fall.’

Moresby forced a smile. ‘Everyone must fall at some point Kim Long.’

‘You have been already too long around me, talking like a proverbial Chinese cricket!’

For the next ten minutes Moresby and Kim Long stayed on their task. At times Moresby would dash below and put more sand into the bottom tunnel, but he knew that as quickly as he was blocking it, a dozen ants were clearing it. At one point a small crack appeared and a feeler was pushed through. Moresby quickly cut it, knowing the ants would be more cautious now.

He hated the human eyes that watched him closely. They were what wearied him most. The eyes would be on one side and then the other, of the plastic world he was caught in. Once, when Moresby and Kim Long were motionless, waiting for an attack from the top tube, the human fingers tapped at the plastic sides, shaking the whole world.

‘I must check the bottom tube Kim!’ Moresby called as he ran down one of the tunnels, and into the forward guard of the advancing party. He raised his swords and attacked them so ferociously they fell back far enough for Moresby to collapse the tunnel and race back to Kim Long.

‘They have come through from below Kim.’

‘Here comes the human again,’ said Kim Long, ‘I have been thinking about when we both stopped moving.’

‘The human tapped the plastic?’

‘Yes! Then we started moving again. There is an old Chinese proverb. If you stay in one place long enough the world will come to you.’

‘You’ve lost me Kim.’

‘I think the human wants to see us moving and fighting in this colony of ants. That is why he tapped the walls when we sat still. Maybe, hopefully, if he sees us not moving he may take us out of here, or prod us to move.’

‘Kim Long! You’re a genius. To prod us he would have to take off the lid! What about the attacking ants?’

‘It takes them some time to pierce my skeleton. You can hide under me while they try.’

‘Ants have strong pincers and it won’t take them long to get through your skeleton. Are you sure you want to do this?’

‘One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked,’ Kim smiled sadly.

‘Let me know if it gets to be too hard Kim. I will come out charging.’

‘You must stay still Moresby. Even if I die you should stay absolutely still. It is your only hope.’

Moresby touched feelers with Kim Long, and then burrowed beneath him. No sooner had Moresby disappeared than the ants that had broken through at the bottom of the container reached Kim Long. They urged the ants at the top to come surging through the tunnel, and together they swarmed over him.

Kim Long felt their attempts to sever his antennae. He felt them tugging at his legs. Perhaps his plan had failed. They tried to pierce his abdomen. They bit into his thorax. Moresby lay beneath his friend, wanting to fight, but knowing he couldn’t.

The human could see Moresby lying under Kim Long. He tapped the side of the ant colony, wondering why the little cricket and ant had stopped moving. He eased off the top of the container and poked at Kim Long with his huge fingers, just managing to squeeze into the nest. Some of the ants on top of Kim Long crawled onto the fingers and the human withdrew them quickly.

That small amount of time was all Kim Long needed. He kicked his legs once and was sailing through the air. The human lunged forward and accidentally knocked the ant colony over. It fell sideways onto the ground, and dirt, ants, eggs and food spread over the red bricks.

Thousands of ants lay on the red paving, staggering around, not knowing what to do or where to go – but one ant did.

Moresby ran to the edge of the path and into the garden. The other ants were too confused to challenge him. He stood there for a while, waiting to see if Kim Long had made it. Perhaps the human had caught him! Perhaps the jump had been too high, and Kim Long hadn’t landed well. Perhaps the ant attack had been too ferocious!

Moresby called out. ‘Kim Long! Can you hear me?’

There was a loud chirrup and Kim Long landed beside him and they embraced as friends. ‘The world cherishes those who never forsake their friends!’ Kim Long grinned.

And the legend grew of Moresby, who met his great friend, Kim Long Cricket, and turned a world of ants upside down.