“We’re going to need more men on this!”
“Sir! Yes, sir!”
The one that had spoken peeled away from the column and headed back to base, double time. The rest of them continued to reconnoitre.
That boy will go far, the squad leader thought to himself. When ordered to jump, he doesn’t even ask ‘how high?’
He turned his mind back to the task at hand. The area was full of usable material, all in good condition. Where to begin?
Just then, a shadow appeared overhead; the napkin was hoisted into the air and thrown away, ants and all.

Word count: 99
Prompt: Friday Fictioneers
I like to think ants are cooperative rather than hierarchical
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You’re probably right about that :)
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So close to a bonanza, only to have it snatched away! Good fun :-)
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I had fun writing it, too :)
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I thought ants as soon as I started to read this one! Very good loved it.
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Blast, I didn’t do a good job then. The ‘ants’ was supposed to be a surprise punchline! Glad to hear you enjoyed it though :)
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You did an amazing job, I just equate picnics, crumbs with armies of ants, it’s a natural thing!!
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:)
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I didn’t think of ants, Pendantry, and the picture made me think of an animated chess set for some reason, which carried through the first few lines. My imagination takes me to the oddest places! Good one! 🙂
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:)
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I loved it :) Never thought of ants at all till the last line. Maybe because most of the worker and soldier ants are female :) But the ending was a lovely surprise.
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Ah, I didn’t know that. Glad you liked it!
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Damn, that was good. Funny where a prompt takes one.
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Thanks for the encouraging words. Yes, it is odd. This one just wrote itself, I love those. Thanks for your visit, Ted!
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I love an anthropomorphic take. (See what I did there?) :(
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Very clever :)
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Got me by surprise. I thought it would be about people fighting for the last chip.
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Oh, good :)
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I was not anticipating – pardon the pun! Brilliant.
Here’s mine!
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Nice pun. Glad I caught you with a gi-ant surprise ;)
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Can ants jump?
Just kidding, this was fun
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I’m sure they used parachutes. Glad you enjoyed it :)
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This was a fun take (I immediately thought ants, too – but I have watched “Antz” once too often, maybe!)
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I’ve only ever seen Antz once, but I think that may have been in the back of my mind. Glad you found it fun!
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I did!
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I thought it was human soldiers having a picnic until the end. Anthropomorphized ants is a fun spin. Neat froggy icon also!
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Heh… glad you like the ‘Wind the frog‘ (I just got that included in the urban dictionary today!).
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That’s a term that could catch on, Colin. Congratulations! The Urban Dictionary is a fun place to check out. I’ve got words in there and have done my volunteering at “editing”.
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Some of those words in there… don’t deserve to be in there, in my opinion. But there are gems in the rough!
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That’s why the editors need to decline them as they come through. They probably need to do a purge.
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You surprised me! Took me ad second to realize I was reading about ants :). Well done!
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Glad I surprised you :)
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