The terrain was flat, barren and dry. Great tables rose in the distance, but offered very little shade on the flatlands. The air buzzed with electricity and savage winds often swept across the plains, making it hard for the scouting party to maintain their direction.
They had left the main group days earlier, on a mission for signs of sustenance. They had stumbled over a small ridge down onto the plain in vain hope of finding something, anything.
The head scout urged his party on. They were all tired, but their leader knew if they stopped, they’d be hard to start again. And he needed for this mission to be successful. If not, they were potentially all doomed.
Sometime later, one of the left flank let the leader know he’d found a small deposit of something which could be used to sustain them until they found a richer source. The head scout checked the source and then called the party together. There was enough food to go around, although it was dry and hardly tasty. But it wasn’t poisonous and it would keep them going.
As soon as the meal was complete, the head scout pushed his team on again. Suddenly, the ground started rumbling and shaking the team off their legs. Scrambling around, both flanks began to panic. The head scout tried to keep them calm but the scouts were tired, scared and missing home.
A gigantic beast appeared on the near horizon, panicking them even further. Suddenly a great device swept down, picking up the entire left flank and sweeping them back towards a great ridge that had dropped from the sky. The team leader attempted to leave a note for future teams but lost the chance as he too was swept up and away.
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“Honey, there are ants in the kitchen again.”
“Well, sweep ‘em up and toss ‘em out.”
“But they keep coming back in. You said you’d do something about it the last time they got in.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, they’re only ants. They won’t eat much.”
“I don’t want them in my kitchen, you hear?”
“Yes dear…”
“And don’t be so condescending.”
“Yes, dear.”
“I mean it…”
“I know.”