The horizon is not so far as we can see, but as far as we can imagine

The Ant

Once Upon A Time there was an ant. She spent all her days carrying food and building supplies to the nest, following scent trails laid down by other worker ants.

Nothing she did was different from what other worker ants did.

One day she looked to the sky and screamed, “I matter.”

Every day after she would look at the sky for a few moments. She never again said “I matter.”

Once, when she was looking at the sky, another worker ant came up to her and gently touched her antennas.

She followed that ant when it left, and together they foraged food and picked up leaves.

One summer eve, some earth crumbled and the other ant, tumbled down and fell on her back. It took a lot of pushing to help her back to her feet, but when it was done the ant felt a great rush of relief and happiness, like nothing she had felt before.

Again, they touched antennas. A warmth suffused the ant, she realized this ant was special, even though it did nothing that any other ant did, and for over a year, they always worked together.

Then a large object came from the sky, barely missing the ant and landing on many other ants, then withdrawing back to the sky. The ants it had hit were all crushed.

The ant approached its friend, and gently touched her antennas to the paste which was all that remained of its friend.

She looked to the sky, and screamed, “she mattered!”

 

 

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5 Comments

  1. Raad

    🙁

  2. Feral Finster

    n.b. “Alyosha The Pot” by L.N. Tolstoi

  3. Nate

    lovely parable

  4. UphillBend

    And if the sky could reply back, an answer might have been “She mattered to you, but whether you matter to me is another question.”

    A possible lesson being “mattering” is a matter of sorrow and joy between ourselves, fragile and insignificant creatures of the passing scene.

    Perhaps there is a Bodhisattva working tirelessly in all the directions of the many worlds for all sentient beings, so that they may cross over to a place where existing and mattering coincide along with bliss.

    But in this world, as far as we can make it out, it’s either faith or agnosticism but kindness in either case will bring some dignity to our short stay here. And the ant’s dignity is now a full circle welded at its completion with tears.

  5. mago

    Watch what you do and where you go cause someday a big shoe could stomp down killing everything and everyone you’ve ever known or loved, thus killing you.
    And the wind cries Mary . . .

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