The Ant on the Moon

by Mark Israel Rosario

Once there was a young ant named Suebai. Suebai, often called “the dreamer” by the other ants, was a very ambitious ant. He dreamt of living in a perfect home. He wanted to impress all the other ants of his great achievements. The problem was, Suebai never achieved much in his life.

One day, as he rode the bus to school, Suebai overheard his friend Langgam saying,

“Did you know that legend says of a Great Ant Colony on the Moon that is looking for an Ant King from Earth?”

Upon hearing this, the dreamer went as excited as he had ever been before.

“Wow! If I can only go to the moon, I would surely become the king of the Great Ant Colony--my perfect home.”

Later that night, Suebai sets out on his journey to the moon. He took his rusty old bicycle and headed straight for the moon. He pedaled and he pedaled and he pedaled. And yet, morning came and Suebai was exhausted from all the pedaling. His perfect home was out of reach.

“What went wrong?” Suebai said to himself. “I pedaled all night but the moon is still out of reach.”

“I know”

“There was not enough speed.”

And so, worn out from his long night of pedaling, the dreamer went home as excited as he had ever been before.

On the second night of his journey, Suebai thought he needed more speed to get to the moon. So he borrowed his father’s old jalopy and headed straight for the moon. All night, he drove and he drove and he drove. And yet, morning came and Suebai was exhausted from all the driving. His perfect home was out of reach.

“What went wrong?” Suebai said to himself. “I drove all night but the moon is still out of reach.”

Pooped out and beat, Suebai asked for his friend Langgam’s advice,

“Help me my friend. I overheard you mention about the Great Ant Colony of the moon and I am now endeavoring to reach it. I drove all of last night but the moon stayed as far as when I first started”

“My silly friend” Langgam laughed so hard his eyes were tearing up.” Everyone knows you need not drive but fly towards the moon.”

“Fly?” Suebai’s antennae crossed twice just as would any other ant would whenever they are confused.

“Yes fly! Here, take my plane! It’ll make you one with the birds”

As so the dreamer went home as excited as he had ever been before.

On the third night of his journey, Suebai took his friend, Langgam’s plane, and headed straight for the moon. All night, he flew and he flew and he flew towards the moon. He went as high as he could, so high that the air got thinner and thinner until Suebai could barely breathe. His perfect home was still out of reach.

Suebai crashed his plane down the nearest lake. With his body black and bruised, he laid prone beside the lake-- defeated.

He flew but did not fly high enough. He felt the moon grow nearer. Although he failed, Suebai have never felt as excited as he had ever been. He felt the moon grow nearer. A smile glowed like a lone star on the dreamer’s face; he could feel his heart racing, his blood rising flushed through his head.

HE FELT THE MOON GROW NEARER.

He needed something that was way better than the bicycle… He needed something that runs way faster than the car… He needed something that flies way higher than the airplane. He needed—

A ROCKETSHIP!!!

Langgam, gathered a thousand of Suebai’s friends in order to help build the dreamer’s rocketship.

Finally, on the eve of his fourth attempt, all of the ants in the entire colony gathered around to witness the flight of the first ant on the moon.

The ant world fell silent as the engine started whirring. The earth shook as Suebai took off his rocketship towards the moon. All night, he zoomed and he zoomed and he zoomed towards the moon. He could see the stars as if he was among them. He saw the moon grow bigger and bigger and bigger... and...

THUD!!! THUD!!!

Everything went pitch black. Could it be? Suebai the dreamer has finally landed his rocketship on the moon. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light. His antennae twisted around each other in a mix of anticipation and curiosity. He was moments away from fulfilling his dream. He was to become the Ant King of the Great Ant Colony of the moon.

This moment was his.

His perfect home…

As he opens the hatch, bright light from the sun temporarily blinded Suebai.

He can only imagine his kingdom swarming around his rocketship, waiting to crown him their king.

He slowly opened his eyes and ALAS! Nobody was there. How could it be? He felt a knot in his stomach with the sudden realization that was unfolding in front of him.

There were no Great Ant Colonies on the moon.

Nobody was going name him king.

The dreamer’s dream was destroyed.

His perfect home… burned down to cinder

“Home?” Suebai felt a tear drop flow down his cheek and into the dusty surface of the moon.

“Home!”

How silly was he to long for the perfect home in space? He had a thousand friends back home who loved him enough to help him reach his dream no matter how crazy it sounded.

All along he had the perfect home.

Suebai thought of going back to earth but Langgam and his friends were the ones who knew how to start the rocketship.

He was stuck.

He stared blankly into the bright blue ball in space. It was then when he noticed that there was a huge spacecraft a million times larger than his. It grew larger and larger and larger.

He checked the calendar. It said July 20th 1969.

Suebai’s eyes welled up in joy. Only one word was swirling around his mind. It was….

“HOME!!!”

Copyright Mooks Rosario, 2010

The author lives in the Philippines.

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