(A little late to the party, but I would like to share a flash fiction piece linking to the lovely Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Addicted to Purple .. together with the fascinating photo by Ted Strutz)
New rainfall had washed our efforts away. A miserable, ineffective mound of earth sat at the entrance, sliding dangerously into our tunnel. We assessed the wind direction for a second before hundreds of us started to repeat our work. We were not tired, only determined.
Messages filtered down the line of an obstruction ahead. I smelt it before I saw it. Metallic. Glancing up, its height beyond my view. Some younger members had stalled in their work to investigate but the air above our heads was thick with messages directed at them to return immediately. Ants did not survive alone.
All work for the ants – and the parallel to modern human society is easily made too. Nicely done.
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Thanks Iain! It pleases me that readers have enjoyed this piece … Happy New Year to you 🥂
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Well done and definitely unique take on the prompt.
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Thank you Christine :)) Happy New Year! x
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Thanks. Wishing the same to you. 🙂
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A unique point of view. 🙂
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I hoped it would come across .. thank you x
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What a brilliant take from the ants’ pov. Loved it.
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I really liked this point of view. Not a fan of talking animals and these didn’t. One truly got a sense of their communicating between themselves!
Darn humans ruining all their work…
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Tee hee!!
Brilliant. Subtlety was my aim here xx
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Ya done good! 😉 xoxo
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May I ask if the link worked from FF site back to me?
And thank you so much for the feedback xx
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Yes, that’s where I got to your story…
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Oh what a relief; I know an earlier reader had trouble with it.
I was unable to upload a photo but next week, I will try again. x
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Proverbs 6:6-8King
6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
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Wow!!! 👌🏼🌸
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Indeed.. the ant’s viewpoint is very true… maybe we need to understand that it’s partly the same for humans.
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Absolutely!
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Great twist at the end. I had a hard time in the beginning fitting the words to humans, but as soon as I read the last line it all became clear. Thanks for the great read.
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Aw, that’s great to hear!
I think there’s a fine line when writing like this, to keep the reader guessing, but not for too long because our attention span is shorter than we think and I would hate a reader to give up and move on before reaching the twist, then enjoy a re-read with the new knowledge!
So pleased you read it. x
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I’m not generally a fan of talking animals, but this one worked well for me, I think, because you didn’t anthriopomorphise the ants, but tried to enter an ant”psyche”
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ooooh I LOVE a new word … hang on (goes gets the Collins) … I see it!
Yeah – I totally get what you mean. I tried (and again with my spider post 10/12/17) attempted to describe the events realistically from the insect’s non-emotional state.
Thank you reading and a Happy New Year! 🙂
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Your link worked for me (29/12/17 at 12:39 BST). I liked your ant’s viewpoint and the solitary story he had time to tell. 🙂
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Oh wow!
How strange … thank you for confirming this.
I do enjoy writing from animals/insects POV… did you read my spider post from November?!
Thank you for your comment 😊
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I can’t remember… What’s it called? Or could you post a link in a reply comment and I will crawl over it… Curiously I had the strangest spider dream last night… so so strange…
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oooh, let me try .. it’s a sign!! You HAVE to read it now 🕷
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https://violableu.com/2017/12/10/18/
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Nice tale from an ant’s viewpoint. I’ve had to come via your blog to get here as the link from the FF site doesn’t seem to be working for you.
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Thank you for the heads up; I admit I’m struggling with the ‘how to’ info on making these links and ping backs work !!!
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I think Dale may be able to help if you’re struggling
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Thank you Michael .. I shall look into it..
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