The ant mound was in a total state
of shock. The queen, the mighty Queen Ira, had been kidnapped. The crazy
eight-eyed black widow spider, Rivana, had tricked her into coming out of her
chamber. All the guards were told to go leave that night, the first time ever. The
mound council called an immediate emergency meeting to plan the rescue. They
knew the task would not be easy since the spider’s web was across the backyard.
Many tribulations and obstacles would need to be passed to rescue the beautiful
Queen Ira. The task could only be executed by one ant, and one ant only. It was
the strong red fire ant Zane. They beckoned Zane. The rescue was on.
Rivana
Source: SpiderWorlds
Zane took his brother and other
ants with him. This was more personal to him than anyone realized. Zane and
Queen Ira had grown up in the same mound and had a past of friendship and passion.
He was an ant on a mission. With weapons sharpened, the group started their
trek to Rivana’s web knowing very well that he knew that they would be coming.
After marching halfway across the
yard, Zane felt a chill run down all of his legs. He knew they were being watched
by something, but he did not know by who. As he led the formation, he heard a
large rumble behind him along with screams from his troop. The last ant in line
was squirming around in the hands of the enormous praying mantis. The ants
moved into attacking formation before launching wooden spears into the giant
praying mantis. Spears broke as they hit the rough hide of the enemy. All
seemed lost until Zane took out his secret weapon, a holy staple given to him
from the mighty beetle Shimma. He slid under the legs of Khamton, jumped on its
back, and cut off the mighty praying mantis’s head. Zane stood amidst his
fallen enemy. Rivana, revengeful, jumped on his speedy dragonfly and flew into
the battle with thousands of spiders at his hand.
Zane versus the mighty Khamton
Source: Metro
As Zane and the ants fought off all
the spiders with his mighty staple, Rivana decided to counter the troop of
ants. Zane sensed this with his antennas and turned around just as Rivana attacked.
Rivana launched web, sticking Zane to the ground. His brother
quickly cut the
web, freeing Zane. Rivana nosed dived his dragonfly towards Zane trying to use
the speed to defeat Zane. Zane, at the last second, jumped to the side and
launched his staple into the side of Rivana. Rivana fell to the ground, dead.
With the eight eyed spider now
dead, the Queen was now free. Zane freed the royal captive, looking deeply into
the eyes of the beautiful queen. Zane spoke sweet words to his old love, “My
queen, my love. You have been dearly missed. You are the light in my eye.
Forever and ever I will serve you with love and affection”. Taken back, Queen
Ira walked away from Zane with guards surrounding her. She knew of her responsibilities
to the mound and that she could never marry the rugged Zane. Zane was heartbroken,
but he understood her decision
As the years past, Queen Ira thought
of Zane, and Zane though of Queen Ira. And as both took their last breaths,
they slowly slipped into a dream of a wonderful land. They both were in heaven,
together. At last, the two ants could spend eternity together.
Author Notes: I received inspiration for this tale from the Ramayana. It followed the parts B, C, and D. I utilized the story of Rama and Sita being in love. While the ten headed Ravana is portrayed by Rivana, the eight eyed spider. These two are very similar throughout the story. I, however, did not include the part where Lakshman hurts his sister. He kidnaps the beloved Sita from Rama, and Rama attacks the rakshasa to rescue her. This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish in my story with the ants and spider. Also, the praying mantis Khamton, resembled the giant Khumhakarna and his mighty battle with Rama (Zane). Khumhakarna was important in the original Ramayana because it was a great battle that showed Rama's strength. I thought about potentially making Zane and the Queen get together immediately unlike the original Ramayana. This would have made a better dynamic but I wanted to stay true to that part of the story. Overall, the story from when Sita was kidnapped on was very interesting to me and that is where I got my overall inspiration. Thanks for reading.
Bibliography: Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899).
Trevor, I love the parallels between your story and the Ramayana. I think it is especially comical how the ant saves the queen with a staple. Similar of how Rama uses his great bow on his quest to save Sita. I also appreciated the fact that Queen Ira and Zane did not come to be together until they went to heaven. Similar to how the Ramayana ends with the dying of Vishnu's avatar, Rama. Thanks for posting!
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Hello Trevor. The way that you expressed so many emotions using animals as your main characters reminded me of a few animated films that I enjoy watching even today. Overcoming tremendous adversity is a theme I observed in your story that is paralleled with titles such as "A Bug's Life" and "Antz". There are many instances that are reminiscent of a stand-off between David and Goliath where the supposedly weaker character overcomes the unbelievably strong in a feat of courage and determination.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to your comparisons with “The Ramayana”, it seems as though you did stay very loyal to the original material in the way that the characters only reunite in death after a long struggle in life. While writing the conclusion I wonder if you were tempted to end their tale in a radically different manner. Or maybe it just seemed natural to you that their story should culminate in such a manner.
I like how you changed the scenery a little bit and turned their world into a back yard. Using the insects as the characters is a great way to add your own flavor to the story. I dint think it was going to be a happy ending, but you surprised me and brought them together in heaven. Good job with this story.
ReplyDeleteTrevor, looks like you’ve gotten a head start on the course assignments! Anyway, I’ve chosen your story, An Ant’s Tale, to comment on your web presentation. The first thing I notice is your pictures, which I like (even though they’re of spiders) because they are such high quality photos – that’s always nice. Next, I took a look at the visual of your text. I don’t really think the indentation of each paragraph is necessary in this context and I would think about changing that in the future. Your idea of using spiders as characters is original, because when I think of typical “animal characters,” that’s definitely not one that pops up. Also, your choice of bug characters each really match the characters from the original story. I guess you could say I’m one of those “grammar nazis” but I didn’t find anything wrong with yours, so nice job on that! The detail in your battle scene is impressive.
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