My Father's Universe

by Mitch

  Tara mused, “I’ll have more respect for them from now on.” The other ladies agreed wholeheartedly.

  Coming to the city of Hi-Why-U, although abandoned, there were no fires anywhere. Kedar took a deep breath, “It has to be burned.” Shooting several flaming cat-tails, his crew tossed torches and a couple Bo-Bos. Fire spread around a large structure trapping thousands of ants. The pull of gravity brought the building down in ruin, screams rose high in the tormenting fire.

  Within minutes, a firestorm was spreading, vacuuming parts of the city clean of raging morbid ants. What Tara saw set her face in a frown. Friends of hers lived here, it was like her home away from home. As far as she knew, they were back in Hi-Why-E. Because of her love for them, she felt anguish in her heart knowing their home was being destroyed. The pall of smoke rolling low, adorned circles, swirling like whirlpools. No one asked why it was hiding its flames in the dark smoke and choking the life out of everything it encountered. Curiosity got the best of it as it rushed out of darkness, rising to the man-made sky armed with brutal savage hate. Most fires loved to do things for a reward, this one hated even itself, streaking toward its zenith, smashing, mangling, twisting, mutilating, burning, and disfiguring everything in its reach.

  A horde of wild boar ants exceeding treacherous, bristled bodies, sharp tusks, long snouts, and tails arched over their backs, charged. Kedar shot hot cat-tails at one of the most menacing beasts alive as fast as the ladies handed them to him. Nan`C remarked, “Those boar ant’s eyes are so close together, they look cross-eyed.”

  The Dinghy moved through the city, around buildings looking for signs of flash ants. Although not seeing any, they started more fire. Shouts echoed down the street as he let flaming cat-tails fly out farther, making sure the ants could not advance or get out of the oiled section. Tara and Shy`re yelled, screaming would be a better word, as they both got a terrifying glimpse of hundreds of blackish-red centipede ants heading their way. Everyone had ten pair of legs, each with a sharp spur. The first two legs had modified poison claws that paralyze, making it easy to kill its prey. Kedar asked the lady driver to stop and the Dinghy came to a plunging stand still. He said, “We’ll be here only for a minute.” The grass was dry and crispy. “Ah,” he uttered under his breath and let several hot fiery cat-tails fly behind the oncoming centipede ants while the ladies threw flaming Bo-Bos. At the same instant, there was a bright flash followed by an explosion that rocked the Dinghy.

  Dark forms surged out of the building, covered with hot dark-reddish thick syrup. Tara giggled, “It’s tragic,” and giggled some more. “We just blew up plants that process honey and maple syrup.”

  “Yes, and the molasses building,” added Shy`re.

  The contents, mixed together, burned as good as the oil if not better. When the hot stuff hit, it stuck like glue, triggering absolute chaos. Some hot goo landed on the Dinghy. Kedar interjected, “We may be able to use that goo later if there is a need.”

  The next explosion rocked the bakery. Frog-mouth brutes came out of the bakery as if an anteater’s tongue was licking at their heels. All were covered with white dust, choking, coughing, and gasping like a wheezing toad in a dust storm. Centipede ants on fire do not move well going in reverse.

  For the next fifteen miles, they followed a long hedgerow that went clear to the horizon and out of sight. On the other side of the hedge were open fields with plenty of dried grass soaked with oil oozing out of the ground. Kedar saved his arrow here. The ladies leaned out of the Dinghy and touched the dry grass as they went by. He noticed his crew was having a ball. So, he let them enjoy touching while he directed the Dinghy, keeping a watchful lookout, Coming to a dry riverbed soaked heavy with oil. Not an ant was in sight but soon would be. Kedar stop the Dinghy, saying to his crew, “Now we will scrape the goo off of the Dinghy and make a candle and place dry grass around it close to a Bo-Bo. It should burn down and blow up in about five minutes, setting the riverbed on fire. If any ants venture into the oil bed, the fire will spread faster than they can scramble, clearing it of unsuspecting ants.”

  The next ten miles were open fields; again, the ladies did the touching. Mona frowned as they came to a fenced-in large building. A bright sign on the front read, PETROL. She replied, “That is where gasohol was once processed. My mother worked here as a secretary.” She scowled, “Burn it!” Kedar shot several hot cat-tails through the windows and on the ground around it. Ants that were close by, seeing the fire, fled in the other direction as fast as their legs could take them.

  Tara yelled, “Did you forget something?”

  Shy`re, giggling, screamed, “When you come back, come with a friend and a bright smile.”

  Kedar worried himself, “I have bad vibes about this, and those ants didn’t turn and run for nothing.”

  Nan`c smiled, “Maybe we hurt their feelings?”

  Mona shouted, “How can their feelings be hurt when they have no pity.”

  Kedar blazed, “I think we are in trouble!” The building indeed was a gasohol plant. Fire quickly engulfed large storage tanks unseen from their view. One was half full and two others empty, making them more dangerous than the full ones. The Dinghy or its crew had no time to respond to the unexpected. Tanks and building blew as if it was a live volcano erupting. A large chunk of the building, or something in the building, hit the Dinghy broadside knocking it on its side.

  Whatever hit it bounced into the lake. The occupants were thrown from the Dinghy. Kedar was knocked unconscious and the ladies landed in every direction stunned. Tara murmured, “This is absolute insanity!” She wanted to scream, but not in front of the others, as she felt repulsed by the thought of the crude varmints swarming all over her body, triggering vivid pictures of torture. Her body tried telling her something was going to explode inside of her. She became dizzy, heavy eyes closed involuntary, gasping for air, dreading the prospect of not seeing tomorrow, prompting her mind to stay conscious!

  The women looked around at each other, fright pulsated through them to be more precise, and all were scared to death. Kedar groaned. Groggily he sat up rubbing his head. His body felt as though it tore apart, the taste of gasohol and dust in his mouth as he gagged. Still quite dizzy, rubbing his head, he asked with a lot of anxiety in his voice, “Are you okay?” They assured him they were fine, except the ants were nearly there. Unholy faces, lips drawn back in a snarl exposing stained needle-pointed teeth ready for the kill. Fangs hung from the upper jaws. A low-pitched growl and viscous, infected saliva dripped from their lower jaws. As they got closer, greedy eyes glared at them. The Dinghy’s crew felt sweat soaking through their clothing. A reeky venom filled the air. In their minds they thought, who would die first?

  Dinghy AP55 on its side was useless in that position. Everything shut down, nothing worked. It was too heavy to push over. All wrist phones were useless. Help would arrive too late to save them. They could see red eyes burning into theirs. These brutal ants were battle-hardened veterans, battle puckered scars all over their bodies. The female-neuters are the leaders making all decisions. In courtship, when they sing a rapturous melody, they will devour their mates. They defied the fire and headed in the direction of the Dinghy. Angry jaws moving up and down, fangs dripping with toxin venom.

  Shy`re sort of puffed up and remarked sarcastically, “Insolent creatures.”

  Kedar snickered, “You got that right.” He had a clear view of the outskirts of the city a mile and a half away, every person had vacated hours ago. There was no need looking for help from there. The only thing they could do was get in the deep river and hope help would arrive before it was too late.

  Kedar could fly for help but that too would take too long. Anyway, he would never leave the ladies alone. If need be, he would die protecting them first. Lize and Nan`C looked at each other, “We will not die standing here. We’ll take torches and meet them head on.”

  Tara yelled. “No! Let’s stay together.”

  So, they faced the enemy with their ba
cks to the Abyssal River, retreating very cautiously, praying. Because of the excitement in front of them, they did not see or hear the commotion behind them. Had it been the enemy, they would have been caught off guard. “Can we help you?” asked a loud heavy voice behind Kedar.

  The strange voice startled Kedar! Instantly he turned, bow ready to shoot. “Flash!” screamed Tara. “Thank God it’s you!” Kedar, remembered being introduced to the Aquatic people and lowered his bow. Flash and a thousand men came out of the water and pushed the Dinghy upright. Tara sang out, “We’re lucky you happened to come by.”

  “No, it is not luck. We had a good notion we would be needed. We have been following you ever since you crossed Bow Peninsula.”

  Flash and his men went into action, the ladies sat back and enjoyed the Aquatic men’s acrobatics, using their forked spears, subduing the blasted ants. It was more a show than a battle. Ants flying from one spear to another, several others were being juggled between two Aquatic men. When the battle was over, the Aquatic men gathered the bodies of the ants into one large pile. Kedar asked, “Why are they doing that?”

  “The land must be clean; dead bodies will decay and spread diseases. Later, the bodies will be loaded into jeep tanks and taken to the large seas outside and fed to the sea creatures,” informed Tara.

  Several hours later, with a grateful heart, Kedar said, “In my somewhat clumsy way, Flash, I’m going to try thanking you all from the bottom of my heart.”

  “No need,” replied Flash.

  “Yes, I will feel comfortable if I do, sir,” replied Kedar.

  Tara spoke up, “Yes, we ladies need and want to thank you all. I hope someday we can repay you swell people.”

  Flash smiled, “I can never say no to beautiful ladies, especially friends of my wife. Thank you all and we do appreciate your thanks.”

  Seeing a gleam of appreciation in his eyes, she said in a pleasant voice, “You’re most welcome.”

  As Flash was leaving, he added, “I have some good news, Wonder and her new friend Careah were in a wee bit, shall I say, trouble. But Rush and his men took care of it. They are okay, Wonder tried to call you, but your radio was out. I have some of my men taking care of a horde of cobra ants on the north shore. The cobra ants were heading to our area. I’m sure my men can subdue them. Earlier, savage cannibal ants stormed Pebbles Cove, I do not have to tell you they gave up eating altogether. I must check to make sure the mess is cleaned up before the party.”

  “What party?” echoed Tara.

  He smiled chuckling, “I’ll see you all later,” and disappeared in the water.

  They watched the Aquatics enter the water making very little disturbance. Kedar asked, “How did they know that Won and Careah were needing help?”

  “Aquatic people have the best radar and sonar beyond human understanding. They can hear any sound or voices close to the water several miles away. Does that answer your question?”

  Kedar remarked, “You learn something new every day.”

  Shy`re responded, “They are secretive, mysterious at times, but very lovable.”

  Lize quipped, “Don’t be too mystified or amazed, they can look deep into their wives’ soul and know how precious their ladies are. We’re sure they can look deep into a human soul to see if there is love or whatever.”

  “Yes,” interjected Fawn, “their hearing is so acute, we’re sure they can hear what people whisper from a great distance.”

  “Wow!” clipped Kedar.

  Tara quibbled, “I wonder what party he was talking about?”

  “Talk about hearing, I hear buzzing coming from the horizon.” Straining his eyes to see what it might be, a strange sensation came over him. Searching the far distance, Kedar studied the terrain, not missing a rock, nor a clump of brush, to detect any movement. Something wasn’t right! He could feel it clear down to his toes. He said under his breath, “I’ll wager this war isn’t over, not by a long shot.” Suddenly he called out!

  “Jumping Jehoshaphat, what the dickens is that thing coming over that hill on the horizon? Am I seeing things or am I seeing things? It looks like a large black spot and it may be heading this way.” Tara looked in the radar scope and enlarged one of the creatures. “I do believe they are mosquito flying ants! Their eyes are enormous, and their wings look like they are built for speed. At the rate they’re traveling, we’ll be seeing them eye-ball-to-eye-ball before long. Oh my, now I’m seeing things, there’s locusts with the barbaric ants! They look as big as greedy vultures.”

  Shy`re remarked, “Maybe they are coming to clean up the mess the ants are causing, then again, maybe not?”

  “Ah, this is one of those unpredictable elements that we talked about yesterday morning,” remarked Mona.

  Lize pointed out, “They cannot land on the burning field, nor land behind us.”

  Tara assured them, “That’s true, the mouth of the river behind us flows into the lake, and at this point, it’s at least three miles across.”

  “I don’t know if it will work! We can get in the Dinghy, close it up, and let the Dinghy give them a jolt of electricity and fry them. All we have to do is wait. Every last one will attack, then fried meat.” Kedar half smiled queried, “Has anyone ever eaten fried ants or locust? I’ve heard some people love them.”

  The ladies, half gagging, said, “You gotta be kidding.”

  For some unknown reason, the locusts held back; locusts are known for their attacking vengeance. Hundreds of flying mosquito ants flew close to the surface picking up heavy rocks. “Oh, oh! We are in for it!” yelled Kedar. The flying devils started diving, bombarding the Dinghy. Most of the rocks bounced causing little damage.

  Lize worried, “If any rocks hit the windows, one or all of us would surely die!”

  Tara sang out, “I believe the glass is shatter proof, so I’m looking forward to see tomorrow!”

  Lize added, “Yes, and next year too!”

  Kedar bit his lower lip thinking what to do before it was too late. The only thing he could think of was using his bow and wings. He opened the door and humorously said, “Well, I guess they played long enough.” He brought his bow from the quiver with a hand full of arrows.

  The ladies watched in amazement; arrows flying so fast looked like the arrows were in one long piece. Then his hot cat-tail sent sparks above the critters, setting wings by the thousands on fire. Tara yelled, “Look out!” A bright yellow armored ant flew at him for a frontal attack. He put a shot into its head just above its beady eyes. Slimy greenish-brown muck cascaded out, sliding down its scarred hard face as it nose-dived spinning to the ground.

  Finally, the locusts, one of the ugliest creatures ever created, came at the Dinghy. Kedar got one in the chest, it fell to the ground gurgling as death flushed over its ugly body. Several locusts dived at Kedar and came at him in a straight line. Kedar half chuckled. “You dummies!” He pulled the bowstring and aimed. As the arrow left the bow, it said, “I’m gonna have a nice day.” The sharp, pointed head sliced the air with no resistance, helping its sleek body pick up speed faster than the speed of sound. The momentum of the arrow went through every ugly creature flying at him.

  Tara remarked, “In my book, I’d call you a straight shooter.” The locust’s fate was finally sealed flying through the deadly sulfur, all terminated before hitting the soiled ground.

  Tara had the urge to learn how to handle the bow and asked if she could try it. Kedar replied, “There is no better time than the present. Since you’re athletic, you shouldn’t have trouble pulling the string.” There were only a few straggling ants here and there as he handed the bow to her. “Do not hold the bow tightly, let it rest against the base of your thumb and forefinger. Nock the arrow, pull the string back past your nose, place your thumb behind your ear, keep your eyes on the target; let loose. The arrow will do what it was made for!”

  She practiced several shots with fiery cat-tails at several band of ants. Kedar handed her a sharp-point arrow so she could hav
e the feel of it. She looked at it as if it would bite her. He assured her, “It’s the same, only lighter and more dangerous.” She placed the arrow, pulled the string past her nose, closed her eyes, and let it loose. The spent arrow sailed wild and ricocheted off of a stone, causing it to wobble before straightening out and sailing through an ant’s stomach. Its claw felt for the arrow, pulled the arrow out, looked at it with a puzzling look, and threw it at Tara as it tried to curse.

  The only sound that came forth was heavy rasping. It took several steps backward and two steps forward before dropping face down, staring at the contaminated ground before the death rattle. Tara, shaking all over, looked at Kedar and giggled, he handed her another pointed arrow. A huge ugly hairy ocelot ant came by chasing a baby rabbit. Tara pulled the string, shut her eyes again and let the arrow fly. There was an outburst of laughter! Kedar roared because of her hitting a certain spot in its backside.

  She put the next cattail through an open window of an old building. The building exploded, violently bursting into flames, sending ants on a one-way trip without a return ticket. They could see Dante’s demons trying to fan the flames off their bodies. The near-dead whimpered looking for help. Their comrades in shock, terrified at what the cleansing fire could do, went to their knees as if praying to their fire god. Kedar looked at Nan`c and chuckled, “Now that’s how I like to see an enemy, on their knees.”

  Fawn yelled, “Look! Thousands are heading this way, leaping walls and over anything in their way. We don’t have many cat-tails left.”

  Tara was trying to get Won on her radio, but no answer. La`no was able to monitor the call and asked her what was wrong? She told him where they were and what was happening. “I’ll send help,” called Eli.

  “Have the men pump more sulfur in the pipes over the entire section of Hi-Why-G. Kedar and his crew are in trouble.”