"I'm hungry," my little sister Antanna whispered faintly, looking at me with her big, sad eyes.

 

The "Giants" living in the "outside world" had launched an attack on our colony. It happened on the morning of our Queen's birthday celebration. That morning, everyone was in the nest preparing for the celebration. Without warning, a flood of white-coloured liquid swept into our nest. Shortly after, an insidious-looking mist drifted in, wrapping the nest in a thick haze. At that time, I was on the grounds of the Worker Ants Training Academy with the other trainees. Sensing danger, Captain Antsy, our Ant Trainer, hurried us into the hole shelter located inside the Academy. Besides our Academy, there were a few other shelters built in the nest to protect us in times of danger.  

Huddling in the shelter, we waited for a few hours before crawling out of the shelter. We were met with the shocking sight of ant corpses strewn on the ground. I shook my head in utter disbelief. 

Weaving my way through the dead bodies, I searched frantically for my little sister, Antanna. She had hatched a month ago and was an unusually frail ant. I spotted Antanna emerging with a small group of ants from another hole shelter. "Antanna!" I exclaimed in relief. "Big sister!" Antanna cried, limping towards me. Her eyes were filled with terror as she surveyed the corpses around her. I rubbed my head against her tiny head to comfort her.

 

More than half of our colony had been decimated by the attack. Worse, the attack had destroyed the lifeline of our nest – our food. With the entrance of our nest sealed with a hard, white substance after the attack, we were unable to enter the kitchen in the outside world to find food. For years, the kitchen was where our Worker Ants foraged for food. Now, we needed to find food from another place, even if it meant infiltrating another colony's territory. 

With no more Worker Ants left to find food as they had been wiped out by the attack, the mission of finding food fell onto the Trainee Worker Ants. We were still ten months to graduation and were not prepared to take on any mission. Given that the Giants were bent on eradicating our colony, finding food would be more dangerous now. I was apprehensive about this dangerous mission. But, seeing Antanna's weak and hungry frame, I was determined to take the risk to find food. 

On the day of our mission, our Queen addressed us. "My dear Trainee Ants, the Giants want to kill us all. But, we will not be destroyed! We will find food to rebuild our colony!" Her fat, jet-black body vibrated passionately as she spoke.

"Yes!" We cried in unison. We were going all in to fulfil our mission.

Following our Queen's speech, the trainees and I marched out of the nest in a single, snaking line. We had dug a new hole on the other side of the nest so that we could enter the outside world. Captain Antsy was at the front of the line leading our mission.

As I marched out, Antanna ran up to me. "Big sister, don't go!" She begged me pitifully. "Antanna, I promise you that I will return with delicious food for you," I reassured her, brushing my head against hers. 

Marching ahead, I crawled out of the nest. A blinding light struck me and my eyes smarted painfully. The outside world was intensely bright, a sharp contrast to our dark and damp nest. My eyes took some time to adjust to the outside world. When I could see more clearly, I gaped in wonder at my surroundings. There were so many objects towering above me!

Together with the other trainees, I trudged through mountains of dust on the ground, making sure that there were no Giants around. Eventually, we reached a tall, cylindrical-shaped object which loomed over us. "Behold, the trash bin!" Captain Antsy exclaimed. The trainees and I murmured excitedly at the sight of the legendary bin. We had only seen pictures of it in our training manual.

Captain Antsy led the way as we crawled up the bin. It was a steep, vertical climb. My head spun dizzily, and my body swayed precariously as I climbed up. Fortunately, Antsu, another trainee in front of me, held my antennae to steady me. Eventually, we reached the edge of the bin and descended into it. My eyes widened in delight. There was a tantalising yellow banana peel, curly strands of noodles with brown sauce, and a sparkling, half-eaten chocolate bar.

All of a sudden, a group of burly Red Ants emerged from beneath the food in the bin. "Who are you all?" They snarled menacingly.

"We are the Black Ant colony from the kitchen. The Giants recently attacked our nest and we have no food now. Please give us some of your food," Captain Antsy responded.

"We will never give you food. This is OUR territory," one of the Red Ants screamed aggressively.

Raising her antennae, Captain Antsy signalled to the rest of us. "ATTACK!" She yelled, charging towards the Red Ants.

The Red Ants, taken aback by the sudden war cry, recovered quickly and rushed towards us. Following behind Captain Antsy, the trainees charged forward, clashing with the Red Ants. Some of the trainees had their heads bitten off by the Red Ants. Other trainees were dealt heavy blows by the enemies. Antsu's head flew past me and landed nearby, her lifeless eyes bleeding into mine. 

I stood frozen in my tracks, trembling in fear at the sheer violence before me. I realised that we trainees were no match for the Red Ants. This was a suicide mission! 

Without further thought, I turned around and frantically raced to the side of the bin to escape. "What are you doing?" The muffled voices of some trainees echoed behind me. Ignoring them, I climbed out of the bin.

Reaching the ground outside the bin, I ran as quickly as my feet carried me. I did not know where I was going. I just wanted to escape. "AHH!" The painful screams of my fellow trainees rang through the air, sending a shiver through my quivering body. I felt guilty leaving Captain Antsy and the trainees behind. But, I did not want to die. I wanted to see my little sister again.

"Bonk!" 

 

Lost in my thoughts, I rammed into a hard object. Squinting at it, I recognised it as a table leg. According to our training manual, the Giants put their food on tables. I could find some food for Antanna and me here, I thought to myself. But, what if a Giant was lurking near the table? What would happen if I saw a Giant?

 

At that moment, I was reminded of Antanna's feeble and hungry frame. Alone and disoriented in the outside world, I could not think of any other place to find food. It was all in or nothing! I had to take the risk for the sake of my sister. With that thought, I started my ascent up the table.

 

Reaching the top of the table, I beheld the mesmerising sight of crumbs covered in red jam. Paying no heed to my surroundings, I scampered towards a crumb and took a bite of it to satisfy my hunger. Strawberry flavour – that was Antanna's favourite! Imagine her joy munching on the crumb!

 

Biting into an enormous crumb, I hurried towards the edge of the table. Suddenly, I felt a heavy weight pressing down on my body. My legs gave way and I collapsed flat onto the table. I could not move an inch. I could not even feel my body. The world before me became a blur and the crumb slipped out of my mandibles. Mustering the last ounce of my strength, I gazed upwards. A gigantic, stubby finger was hovering above me, with part of my abdomen stuck on it.

 

At that moment, an image of Antanna's big, sad eyes flashed before me. "I'm hungry," she whispered faintly.

 

Then, darkness engulfed me.