The Unexpected Friendship Part Ⅲ
-A Novel By Arabella
ABOUT AUTHOR
@Insight Co-leader | Arabella is a pioneering female writer for Sweden’s The Ants Novel Team.
She demonstrated her exceptional writing talent in the Night at the Anthill (NA) series, in which she uses a very anthropomorphic approach to show us the beautiful life of Ant. After a few months, she brought us The Unexpected Friendship, a new work based on the Lost Island gameplay.
The day was sunny, with veil clouds slowly wandering in the
sky. Bella opened the window and breathed in the fresh air. It
was quiet and peaceful. Her ants were still in the barracks,
sleeping. The day before, they took the first building on the
island. The residence required a lot of power and a lot of ants,
but with cooperation, they managed to take over the building.
Life on the Island was a little different; they could hunt hornets
and geckos. There were buildings to take over, towers to build,
and enhancements to make inside the anthill. There were also
resources to collect, but Bella and her ants accidentally on
purpose tended to forget that. Today they would be planning
festivities for the upcoming visit from Sixth. It would be the
first time another player would visit, so everyone wanted to do
everything to make it pleasant and worth remembering. They
have talked about having music, theatre, dance and lots of
good food.
Bella stayed in bed with closed eyes, not wanting to see what
craziness her ants would do today. But a leader must take care
of her anthill, so she went out to see.
She looked around, trying to find her ants and saw a group
digging in the ground close to the groundhog.
- Are you looking for something?
- Every time we hit the groundhog, we get presents. We want
to find his cache.
Bella went on to help. She wanted to find that cache as well.
She needed fodder.
One of her team leaders came to her with a tea tray and
sandwiches. - After breakfast, we will meet with all those interested in
performing during the visit. - said the team leader - Are there many ants interested?
- We received 100 expressions of interest. But only 50 are
selected to show what they can do. We have had to opt out of
fire eaters and fireworks. The Bomb Squad said it was too
dangerous and could not guarantee the safety of visitors. - It is good that they think about safety.
- The Bomb Squad is a bit scary - the team leader whispered
and looked around. Bella agreed but didn’t want to say it out
loud, so instead, she asked: - Shall we see the artists?
The ants have built a large stage with a roof on the lawn. In
front of the stage were several rows of chairs for the audience.
Bella and several of her team leaders sat in front of the stage
and began to watch the performances. The first was a singer
who sang:
There once were some ants who went to sea
Off to the Lost Island with Bella’s tea
They drank had fun and they were merry!
To the Island they will go!
Upon the shores they did stride
Dancing happily and with pride
To Bella’s voice they did abide
To take the island and be bold!
They were met with lots of chores
And Bella sent them off to war!
They didn’t know what was in the store,
But Bella let them forward!
Applause greeted the artist when the song was finished.
Everyone thought it was good. After the song, several other
performers showed their tricks - a juggler, a magician, and a
group of acrobats dressed as cows. There was also a
ventriloquist with a goldfish in a bowl. After several hours they
had a list of several artists ready for the visit. But there was
one left. - Can we get the last one on stage, please! - Bella shouted
After a while, they could see an ant coming up on the stage. He
was wearing a black shirt and black pants. He had long hair in
a bun. In his hands, he had a cello. - Hello! My name is Sero, and I will play the cello - he said in a
clear voice - Go ahead and start
What followed was a wonderful cello concerto. The whole anthill
stopped and listened to the beautiful music. Several of the ants
had tears in their eyes. After the music died down, the entire
anthill erupted in applause. - We have found our star. Sero will play at the welcome dinner.
Sixth will be so impressed with him!
The troops that were gathering rss were soon coming back to
the hill. After a long, dull day, everyone was looking forward to
the evening by the fire. The smell of chocolate permeated the
whole anthill. - What smells so good?
- We have hot chocolate to drink, Spartak cake, sticky
chocolate cake, and chocolate fudge cake.
Everyone was looking forward to the chocolate bonanza this
evening.
Bella sat in front of the tower with a cup of warm chocolate in
it. The day started well, with sun and breakfast. The
performers they watched were good, even cow acrobats. She
could still feel the music from Sero in her soul. Bella was quite
optimistic about Sixth’s visit. Everything will probably go well. - HELP!!!
The scream from the forest could be heard throughout the
anthill. Bella started running towards the place where the voice
was heard but stopped when she heard the footsteps of
something large coming out of the forest. Who screamed for
help? Was Bella’s anthill in danger?