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| Ant Galaxy from http://www.si.edu |
Solder Bill was a soldier ant. Soldier Bill decided to leave the colony. So Soldier Bill took off.
It was a soldier ant, so while all; the other ants, hundreds and thousands of ants were marching back to the anthill, little Solder Bill dropped his leaf, abandoned the trail and started going back, against the communal will, who were still very passionate about the queen.
Another ant suggested that Soldier Bill should have the decency and courtesy to inform the queen before deserting.
‘You want to leave us?’ the queen asked; ‘You want to abandon us? What are we going to do without you?’
‘It’s only me. It don’t make no difference if I leave.’ Said Soldier Bill.
‘But who will look after your little sister Monker?’
‘Sister Monker is a grandmother. She has over fifty grand ants.’ Soldier Bill replied.
‘And who is going to look after them?’ the queen continued.
‘Well my brother Bboo is not leaving.’
‘Brother Bboo is a soldier, just like you.’ said Soldier bill. ’So he can look after Sister Monker.’
‘Which means, if you leave, there will be no one to look after sister Monker and Bboo, who should be working in the tracks to get me food will be looking after sister Monker. And while he’s looking after Sister Monker, no one will be bringing me food. So you see; you leaving does not affect just you. You have a cascade of reverberating repercussions tumbling down all the way till it hits me.’
‘I’m still leaving.’ Soldier Bill said.
So Soldier Bill left.
Three days out of the colony, a lizard threw his tongue at him. Luckily, at the same time, a bullfrog leaped on top of Soldier Bill and he was flattened. He did not die. The bullfrog leapt away, unaware of his clumsiness.
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On the fifth day outside the colony, a bird pecked at Soldier Bill and he lost one of his legs. And by the thirtieth day outside the ant colony, Soldier bill was a shadow of his old self. He had only three out of his eight legs, his thorax was flattened further by other bullfrogs and one of his antennas was broken.
This is a lesson for all...It is not enough just to think of one’s self. While you look after other mates, neighbors and friends, they in turn will look out for your safety, interest and concerns. Soldier Bill returned, unfortunately, his thirty days out in the wilderness had a damaging ripple on the rest of the colony.
Three days after he had left, another six hundred ants followed his lead. Only seven of them returned. Soldier bill was the luckiest of the rest. He had three legs, the others had just two.
Not to be Quoted:
Population 9,500,000
Avg income: $49,000.00 (US)
A thing or two about Richmond Hill:
Houses (3 bed detached) cost $150,000 (AVG)
Unemployment rate is 6%
Forecast employment growth = 27%
Crime: below average.
