A Modern Day Epic

Posted on my word press.

The warm sunny weather has kept our household busy. Between spring planting, yard maintenance, end of year standardized testing for the boys, and the onset of the social season we have barely stopped.

I have managed to get very little writing done, and next to no crafting. I have managed to finish planting the Garden, even as the sprouts of silver queen and sweet corn broke the ground. This process was blocked at several points by the biggest small problem ever to plague a gardener.

We have been tireless in our fight against the fire ants. For generations our kind and theirs have lived side by side, in relative peace. Things changed in the event that will live in infamy, The Siege Of The Feet 2016.

Picture it:Sicily, 1910…. No wait, wrong story. Picture it: my back yard, 2016. A radiantly happy witch works the soil under the cloud dappled sky, a gentle breeze lifts her hair. The soft, rich dirt moves freely under her hoe, and her bare toes dig deep into its soothing comfort. She has found a moment of nirvana.

She lifts her face to the expanse of infinity as she gives thanks for the sheer perfection of this moment. Little does she know, she has disrupted the colonization of The Grand Solenopsis Empire. This gross affront has only one recourse for them; Vengeance.

Stealthily, they moved into position, between toes and along the arches, as far North as the ankle. These brave, selfless elite fighting ants waited for the command, knowing that they most likely would be killed in this battle. The command came, and unleashed all of the rage at the insult to their great Queen. As one they attacked, causing the witch to curse and strike them dead, before she retreated to nurse her many wounds.

Many days later, which to the ants is centuries, the tale is still being told in the hatching chambers, as they re-establish their hatred for the enemy with every retelling. Her feet healed and she caused a great poisonous snow to fall wherever they tried to establish a new colony, until they were forced from The Chosen Land. They now reside in smaller, clandestine groups in the outlying areas. It has been rumored that one day the tribes will all unite again, finally take down the giant witch, and regain their glory.

These rumors are unfounded, and as yet unverifiable. As for the witch, she regretted the use of poisonous snow(the entire point of her garden is to provide chemical free, wholesome food for her family) and she resolved to find a better option for ant control.

Maybe fire.