My name is Shinji, and I'm a meal worm beetle, also known as simply meal beetle or flour beetle.
As far as insects are concerned, I'm pretty old... I'm living within a big windmill where I plan to spend the rest of my life. During the final few days of my existence, I plan to write down the most adventurous part of my life, when I still was a young beetle.
When I was a young guy, I was living within a tree stump that was situated near a small pond... Well, it was small for humans. If you are a small beetle like me, it suddenly was the whole world for you.
During those days, my staple food had been simple wood flour. Almost every day, I was gnawing new corridors through the stump. I never got to taste the real, white, delicious flour that can be found within the mill I'm now living in. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why I couldn't fly... Because normally, meal beetles also were able to fly.
My biggest adventure began when I was just working on another corridor, and suddenly, my long-time friend and neighbor Asuka, the millipede, came for a visit...
----
Asuka was storming down the entrance corridor of Shinji's home as fast as her many legs could carry her. "Shinji! Shinji, come out and look! There's something happening at the pond's shore... NERV and SEELE are fighting each other!"
Well, gnawing every day at the same old corridors could become boring, so Shinji was more than ready to follow his millipede friend.
They scurried through the nettle forest until they reached the pond.
Hiding within the leaves of a big weed plant, they could easily watch the scene that was displayed in front of them...
A little further from where they were hiding, an enormous sugar melon was growing. It was still hanging from it's stalk and was slightly hanging down the slope that was leading down to the shore.
All around and on top of the melon, black and red ants were fighting over the possession of the fruit.
"Will you look at that?" Asuka angrily grumbled. "There's more than enough food for all of them, but still they have to fight for it."
"You know them," Shinji sighed. "NERV and SEELE have always been arch enemies, they always will be... By the way, when did this start?"
"Well, I'm not too sure," Asuka explained. "But from what a small fly told me, it all started when one of NERV's scouts discovered the melon this morning. Since then, the red ants have tried gnawing through the stalk. You know it: That melon would be too hard to gnaw through, even for an ant's jaws. But one of 'em got the idea to gnaw through the stalk, so the melon itself would slowly begin to rot, so they could dig down through that soft spot until they reach the good parts.
Well, while that may be a good idea, it took them longer than they planned. And shortly after, they were discovered by SEELE scouts... and almost instantly, black ant soldiers began arriving, trying to drive the red ones away from the melon. And well, they have been at it ever since..."
Shinji could only shake his head. Ants... He would never understand them. The red ant kingdom NERV and the black ant kingdom SEELE always have been a real menace to the inhabitants of this place... but when fighting each other, they seemed to turn into vicious killing machines. Their hatred towards each other must really be deep.
After Shinji and Asuka were watching the battle for some time, it seemed like the red ants from NERV seemed to get the upper hand by throwing most of the black ants down the slope, and into the water.
Just when it looked like the ants from SEELE were ready to give up, something unpredictable happened: It began to rain!
While a nice rainfall could be enjoyable for humans, especially during the hot summer months, it was extremely dangerous for all insects.
The giant raindrops came crashing down like bombs, and the ants began running for their lives. Asuka instantly wanted to run back to her den so she would be safe from the rain, but Shinji instantly realized that they would never make it in time. Instead, he had another idea:
"Asuka, quick! Let's climb under the leaf. If we manage to hold on long enough, we should be able to stay safe until the rain stops."
So the two climbed around to the underside of the big leaf they had been standing on and held on tight. Asuka really had no problem getting a good grip with that many feet... but Shinji also did his best.
Asuka shouted something, but Shinji couldn't understand her... the falling raindrops were just too loud. He turned his head and saw how she gestured towards the sugar melon.
Just as Shinji took a look, the big, yellow fruit came rolling down the slope and fell into the water with a big 'splash'. The rain that was falling down on the plant had finished the work of the ants. Well, they certainly would be in for a surprise...
After some time, the rain stopped, and it was safe for them to come out.
"Man, I'm glad that's over," Asuka groaned. "Just because of those stupid ants..."
Shinji could have pointed out that it had been her idea to watch their fight, but wisely decided to stay quiet.
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(Posted Sun, 15 Oct 2006 11:56)
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