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How The Ant Got His Strength by Kelly Lim

Back before men would rule, all living things were at war. It was a scary world at that time, and they had to keep everything to themselves. The ants used to be small and weak. They would have the hardest time whenever they came across the big, wild animals. Everyday was a struggle for them since they had to find food for their colony. Their colony was so big that it had as many people that a city can contain.


One day, a brave, unafraid group of ants went out to find food early in the morning. They thought all the animals would be asleep. They snuck behind the tall, overgrown grass, and tried to stay as silent as possible.
"There it is, the food!" Shouted one ant quite loudly.
"Shhh, you're going to wake the animals up." whispered the ant leader.


They tried lifting the giant, heavy seed they claimed as their food. No matter how much they puffed and tried, they still can't lift the seed up.
"I give up!" Screamed the same ant from before in frustration.
A strange loud stomping noise was coming from afar, then it sounded like it was coming closer.
"Everyone run!" Shouted an ant who ran like his life depended on it (well it kind of did at that moment).

They were all running at this point, but since they were really small and tiny, they were slower than what was chasing them. Whatever that thing was, decided to be mean and stepped on one of the ants. None of them looked back at their brave, heroic friend who had died in the battle field. They dodged a bunch of rocks and leaves that were in their way. They eventually got back to their colony and felt a sigh of relief.
"That's it, I've had enough! We need to get stronger and and more prepared for this, or else we're all going to die!" Shouted  their leader. "I think we need to… TRAIN!!!"
An ant popped out of the forming crowd around the ant leader. "That is a terrible idea, you can't train an entire colony to be stronger. We are weak and small, so we all have to deal with it."


Ants started to murmur and nod in agreement, then everyone else started to agree with the other ant instead of their own leader. The ant leader grew a bit frustrated.
"That other ant should be our king, he actually has a brain." The leader heard someone say.
"I think so too." Said another ant.
Those words began to spread through the entire colony like wildfire, until they all eventually started chanting "WE NEED A NEW KING, WE NEED A NEW KING!!!" A bunch of ants started to carry the king away from the crowd and then they kicked him out. They then took his crown off and put it on the other ant.
"Fine then, I'll prove you all wrong. I'll come back stronger and braver than ever."
The ant old king walked away with anger in his face as the colony started doubting him and making fun of him.


The old ant king found a place to stay as it turned night, it was a thick, gigantic leaf. One thing was odd though, there were different kinds of insects under the leaf being friendly to each other. He was confused, he thought all living things were at war right now.
"Uhh, hello I come in peace, may I ask what this place is?" Questioned the old ant king.
"Oh, why hello there, we are a group of insects who were kicked out of their war clan, we all decided to team up and work together." Said a grasshopper who seemed to look like their leader.


The team included a mosquito, a worm, a spider, and the grasshopper. The old ant king realised that he wasn't alone.
"Is it fine if I stay the night here?" Asked the old ant king.  
"Ofcourse!" Replied the worm

All of them were sitting around the slow, burning fire, so the old ant king joined them. They asked him why he wasn't with his colony. He told them everything about his fellow friend dying in the war zone to being kicked out of his own colony for the dumbest reason.
"Don't worry we're on your side." Said the spider.
They all nodded in agreement. The old ant king thanked them and decided it was time to rest. He said goodnight to everyone and went to sleep on the loose, brown dirt.


He woke up to birds chirping nearby. He sat up and saw the other insects getting ready to leave their camp. He stood up and asked them where they were going.
"Oh, we were just going to find some food. Do you want to come with us?" Asked the worm.
The ant king agreed to go even though he had a really bad feeling. They went on their way deep into the scary, overgrown  jungle and searched for their food. The bright and blinding sun was shining in their eyes so they could only slightly see their path. All of a sudden a loud familiar stomping noise from before was shaking the ground… it was an elephant. They all panicked and ran different directions while screaming. The jungle began to grow thicker by every step the old ant king took as he ran. Eventually the king ant lost the noise, but he also lost the team.
It has been around an hour now and he still hasn't found is friends. He looked under all the rocks and leaves. He even tried looking in the holes in the ground. It was no surprise to him that he didn't find his friends. He thought he lost everything at that moment. He was starving and his stomach was rumbling. He was tired and needed to rest. He lazily walked up to a tree that seemed quite peculiar. It had leaves that were colored purple. He went up to it and rested at its trunk. A leaf fell in front of him. A strange voice suddenly came out of nowhere.
"Eat the leaf. It will grant you the power of the jungle that nobody else has." Said the voice.
He grew so hungry that he actually ate it.
"Ugh!" Said the old ant king in frustration.

The leaf made his stomach feel worse. All of a sudden the old ant king felt something, he felt like he could define the odds of nature. He felt like he could do anything he wanted. He started to grow bigger muscles, he also started feeling stronger. It was like eating the leaf granted his wish.
"Ant king, there you are!" Shouted the worm coming out of a bush with the entire team. "You seem quite different, what happened?"
"I ate this leaf and it somehow gave me super strength." Replied the old ant king.

The old ant king started showing off by lifting things he could never lift before. They were all astounded. They decided to escort the old ant king back to his colony so he can prove them wrong. They tried following things they saw in the jungle that looked familiar until they knew where they were.
"I am back, stronger than ever!" Said the old ant king as he barged into the colony.
"HAH, show us then." Replied the new ant king who seemed to be a bit nervous.

The entire colony started gathering up around the old ant king while talking about whether they should believe him or not. The old ant king looked around and made sure everyone was watching, and then he picked up a giant acorn that was somewhere close by. He lifted it up and showed everyone what he was capable of. They were all amazed by what was before them. They all cheered for the old ant king.
The new ant king walked up to him looking very shocked. "No, this can't be. I already had the entire colony in my hands and then you just had to show up defining the odds. You ruined everything!"

The entire ant colony gave him a disgusted look. Somebody even knocked the crown off his head. They then put the crown on the old ant king's head, and then dubbed him 'King of Strength' since they have never seen anyone or anything carry 50 times their weight. The ant king that once took his place was nowhere to be seen, he must have run off into the wilderness. Either way, they were all happy now that they had their old king back.




Pt England School, 130 Pt England Rd, Auckland 1072, New Zealand

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