Lostling's Hope Part 3: The Sculpture

I never liked bugs much. Even before we had ended up in the Forest, Susanna was always the one that dealt with the spiders and cockroaches. She would always tease me about how I would see a single ant in the house and immediately call an exterminator. It was all those legs. Centipedes were the worst, and I would run screaming from the room every time I saw one in the garage. So it was with a bit of dread that I poked my head into Howie's favorite hiding spot. And sure enough, there he was, surrounded by a wriggling mass of arthropod terrors.   Ants. Why was the only other intelligent thing in the Forest ants.   Howie looked up at me, eyes wide. I knew before he opened his mouth what was coming.   "I'm sorry! I won't do it again! It's just --" I shook my head. I didn't want to hear it. I squared myself up and tried to fill the small tent entrance as much as I could.   "Howard Phelps, how many times have I told you that you're not allowed to bring the ants inside the tent? Regardless of how safe you say they are, this Forest and anything from them are DAN-GER-OUS. I don't care if they haven't hurt you yet. We don't want anything to happen to Lostling's Hope or you." Howie hung his head in shame, but I noticed he didn't get up.   The pile of ants in front of him began to disperse. One thing's for sure, they could definitely understand us, and knew when they weren't wanted. As they headed off, the object they had been crawling on became clearer: a small wooden figure.   "What is that? What did they bring you?"   Howie's eyes darted to the statue. "Nothing..."   As the last of the ants crawled out through the floorboards, I finally moved from the doorway. Still shuddering at the thought of stragglers, I gingerly picked up the figurine. It was a small wooden statue of a... lizard I think? Curled up on a wide base, similar to a chess piece. I rubbed my fingers along it. Despite the seemingly random movement of the ants, they had nibbled this thing down to be almost perfectly smooth. The lizard was sitting on top of the disk base and now I noticed a small indentation in the center of the disk. Looking back at Howie, I picked up the 6-year-old. "Let's go show mom what your pets have made. I'm actually pretty impressed."   "So you're not mad?" There was some hope in his voice.   "Let's just say you may have found something useful." I pocketed the sculpture. Something still niggled at me though. Like I should recognize the statue. Under my breath I repeated, "Let's go show mom what your pets have made."   It didn't take long to find Sue. We met up about halfway back from Elder Tree, along the catwalks. I awkwardly waved to her, one arm still sporting the wide-eyed Howie. "Sue! Howie found something you might like!" I put him down and we moved across the bridge to firmer footing. Wordlessly, I pulled out the statue and handed it to Howie. "Show her what they made, Howie." Sue looked on with some amusement. She, like me, had always been aware he talked to the Ants regularly, but we'd never seen them make anything before. Howie presented the lizard figurine to Sue like he'd just found a nugget of gold. "Look mom! I told you they could make things!"   Sue carefully took the tiny lizard and held it up to eye level. "The ants made this?" "Yah! And they can make other things too! They told me about their nest and how they have all this stuff to help them build things. Can we go see it? They promised it would be safe!"   Worry crossed Sue's face. "Safe in this Forest? I doubt it. You know why only the adults are allowed to leave Lostling's Hope. Haven't we told you what happens to the other children that get lost out there? They don't come back. And we wouldn't want that!" She smiled at Howie, ruffling his hair. "How about we keep an eye out for their nest? I'm sure the ants have built something more like a palace if they can build this." She paused. "How did they talk to you?"   "They made words on the ground! I can't understand all of them though."   Sue motioned to me to come aside for a moment. I nodded and told Howie to wait. "Can you stick around tomorrow? The ants may have something to say." Sue burst out laughing at the disgusted look on my face. "Fine, fine! I'll see if I can get Ron to watch him. He's overdue for more writing classes anyway. Hmm. Now how do I break the news about the ants to Ron?"   "Hold up Sue. You think the ants actually can speak? I'm fine with Howie keeping them as pets as long as he keeps them away from me, but what if they lead him into the Forest? You know this place. Who's to say this isn't another trap? It wouldn't be the first time we've had a villager lured away." Sue bit her lip before asking, "Jerry, how long have we been here?"   "I don't remember, but I think it's close to two years now."   "And have you ever seen an end to this Forest?"   "You know I haven't. No one has."   "This is the first time we've ever had a friendly creature from the Forest actually talking to us. Within Lostling's Hope. Between you and me, I don't think we're getting out of here by just surviving. I just came back from a chat with Taryn. She's getting old, and I know this place is wearing on her. I'd like to find a way out of here before she passes, and if the ants are offering us a safe place... I think it's worth the time to at least see what they have to say. Maybe they can help us get out." Sue glanced back at Howie, who was waiting by the bridge. "Our kids deserve normal lives. All of us do."   "I just... I don't like it Sue. Fear of bugs aside, this place is evil. It tries to trick us and kill us whenever it can, and i don't trust the ants, even if they are friendly... but you're right. We'll see what they say to Ron."   Sue nodded and turned back to Howie. "Ron's looking after you tomorrow. Want to read what the ants have to say? Show them to him."   Howie stuck out his tongue. "Ron's old though. What if he steps on the ants?" "I'll make sure he doesn't. Now where's your sister?"   "Karen's helping with the mushroom farms."   Of course she is. She always liked being closer to the ground. "I'll go check on her. You two get to the common area, it's almost dinner time." I ruffled Howie's hair. "Good work kiddo. We'll talk a bit later." Sue nodded and bundled Howie back across the bridge and to Home Tree.   As I waved goodbye, I mused that at least Howie had an interesting day. Now to get everyone ready for dinner.