Backyard Beast

In the backyard of a suburban home lived an army of ants. The ants had a giant mound in the corner of the yard, with millions of them living there. There was the King Ant, and the king had a son named Rambo, who was a fierce fighter ant and had tremendous strength. One day, Rambo, his cousin Lance, and his girlfriend Simone all set out to the tall grass beyond the territory of their ant hill. The ants said that what lay beyond the tall grass was mystery and danger.

While making their way through the tall grass, exploring, the trio of ants came to a clearing. Simone expressed to the group that she was getting thirsty, and wanted to go find some water.

“Right then, I’ll go fetch us some water,” said Rambo. “Lance, stay here with Simone and make sure she’s safe. I’ll be back soon.” So Rambo wandered into the thicket until he came to a nearby sprinkler. He began pouring the water into funneled leaves for the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, Simone and Lance were waiting for Rambo, getting eager. Simone was beginning to become worried, and told Lance that he should go check on Rambo.

“Fine, but you need to stay safe and hidden,” warned Lance. “I’m going to draw some lines in the dirt using some Lakshmana Chalk, so no nearby insects will come and bother you. Stay put till I get back.” Lance, with his strong ant arms, picked up a nearby can of bug spray, and made some protective lines in the dirt. He then went off to see what was taking Rambo so long.

When he found Rambo, he saw he was struggling to carry all the water, and helped him carry some of it with the leaves. Suddenly, there was a thunderous tremble, and the whole ground began to shake. They heard a scream, and then the rumbling stopped. They dropped all the water and ran back to Simone in a scurry. When they arrived back to the clearing, Simone was gone.

Rambo frantically cried for Simone, but she had vanished. As Lance was comforting him, however, a large bumblebee flew down to them, looking tattered and hurt. The bee had heard Rambo’s cries, and spoke softly.

“The girl ant, who you are looking for, was kidnapped. I saw the beast who took her away. I managed to fight the giant demon off, and I even managed to sting it, but it got away with the her. I’m sorry, but they went that way,” he said, as he pointed further into the thicket of grass. As all know, once a bee uses it stingers, it dies, for it cannot live without it. Rambo and Lance understood the sacrifice the bee had made, and couldn’t believe its selflessness. Soon, the bee fell weak, and rolled over dead. Rambo and Lance, thankful for the bee’s heroic efforts, managed to bury him in the dirt and placed some pebbles over his grave as a memorial.

They continued into the grass, in the direction the bee had pointed. They passed over vast puddles and giant woodchips until they reached what looked like a clearing ahead, with a tall wooden porch. As the two ants got closer, they could see Simone at the top of the porch, crying out for help. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and from the porch emerged the giant beast who had taken Simone.

The beast had long black hair covering its whole body. It stood on four legs, with thunderous paws and a strong waving tail. It’s jaws were immense, and a slobbering-pink tongue lay out of its mouth. On its leg lay Simone, trapped in the tangle of fur. She was crying out for help! Rambo could tell the beast was in pain from the bee stinger, because it was howling and nipping at the stinger embedded in the fur. He had never seen such a creature, for it was nearly ten times the size of their ant hill at home! Nevertheless, Rambo sprang into action, jumping at the creature. He landed on it with a fluff, as he burrowed his way into the creature’s fur. As the beast roared and bit ferociously at its own fur, Rambo began unleashing his ant stinger, attacking the beast all over. Roaring and bucking, the beast was causing quite a stir. Finally, after minutes of howling, the beast retreated to the porch and vanished beyond sight. Rambo managed to leap off and grab Simone on his way down. Simone and Rambo returned to Lance, where they all cheered a sigh of relief.

Rambo had his first encounter with the beasts of the backyard, and was thankful to have survived and rescued his girlfriend. They made their way back to their ant hill, and the three ants vowed to forever be more careful when exploring the thick grass beyond their ant hill home.

Author's Note

This story is modeled after a story in the Ramayana, called Rama's Wrath, by Sister Nivedita. In this story, Rama and Lakshman leave Sita, Rama's wife, alone in the forest. When they return, Sita had vanished, and Rama had been left in anguish looking for her, thinking she had been eaten by a human eater called a rakshasa. Upon hearing his calls, a bird named Jatayu discovers the two, and tells them that a rakshasa had kidnapped Sita. However, this was not before Jatatyu could fight it off. Soon Jatayu dies and Rama and Lakshman memorialize him for his efforts. Soon they set off to find Sita, where they discover a rakshasa and battle it. After defeating it, the rakshasa tells Rama that he was cursed, and now that he has been slain by Rama, he soul is free. He tells Rama where Sita has gone, and they go off to find a monkey army to ally with them. My story uses Rambo and Lance as Rama and Lakshman, and Simone is Sita. The bee that helps them is Jatayu. I liked to put a playful spin to the story, so I changed the setting and characters to a more fun and fictional theme. Instead of fighting a demon and freeing it, I chose for Rambo and Lance to find Simone, and going to battle with a "beast" of the backyard. I think it's a fun twist that takes a serious story and tones down the severity some. The Lakshmana Chalk that Lance uses is a real bug repellent used in India, based off of Lakshman.