Talent AntFolk

Mary's Story Clip

By AntFolk | 2007

MABM III crossover, Mary’s POV
(Roughly takes place some time towards middle end of MABM (My Adventures by Marffey) III. This is from Mary’s point of view. Mary is five years old in this chapter. Marffey is an adult. This is between MABM III and Tairrena’s Story.)

“Listen up children,” spoke Teacher Marie with a gentle but loud voice while she called us from play time, “I want each of you to return to your desks and pay attention. What I’m about to say is important.” Immediately everyone returned to their desks. I sat at my desk longing for the day I will go outside for the first time. Marie claims it is a dangerous but very beautiful place. Marie said that there are giant plants that tower over even the tallest of major workers and flowers that smell sweet and ooze sugary nectar. As beautiful of a place it is, Marie said there are dangerous predators lurking behind every other blade of grass, just waiting to prey on small children. Sometimes predators even attack grown-ups, though it is not common. She said that’s because they know we are Honeyvels and being Honeyvels makes us one of the strongest of ant folk. Most predators know messing with a Honeyvel can result in serious injury. While Marie was talking about predators I couldn’t help but ask, if Honeyvels are strong, what about other ant folk? Are there any others besides the fire ants that Marie talked about? That Marie did not have an answer. She said other ant folk exist, though she hasn’t seen them. She said she heard of a carpenter ant colony that lived in our nest before, but they peacefully left after realizing we were Honeyvels. I wanted to know more, but Marie didn’t answer.
“Mary?” asked Marie suddenly, “Are you paying attention?” Some students giggled behind me. I happened to be sitting in the front row of desks. Marie frowned and shook an antenna. The giggling stopped. Marie turned to me looking concerned. She knelt down and leaned on my desk. Nearly whispering she spoke, “Mary, Mary, I sometimes worry about you.” Marie reached out and stroked my antennae with one of her hands and continued, “You’re very brilliant for your age, but you’re not going to survive outside if you don’t listen and pay attention.”
“Yes Marie,” I spoke and nodded an antenna.
“Can you repeat what I just said?” asked Marie with the same worried expression on her face.
“Mary, Mary, sometimes I worry…” I repeated. Marie shook her head while several students giggled.
“That’s not what I mean,” spoke Marie sternly, “What I said before that.” I shook my head. Marie looked sad.
“I’ll repeat it because I believe it’s important,” spoke Marie after she stood up to face her class. Marie continued to look at me while adding, “Especially you Mary. You’re not going to survive unless you can find a grown-up to take care of you after you pass this class.” Marie stepped to the front of the room and spoke to the entire class, “A grown up is someone just like me,” Marie pointed to herself and continued, “They’ve been a child like you, but they’ve lived longer and they know more than you do. A grown up is older and wiser. They can protect you from danger. They can look after you and love you in a special way that no other worker in the colony will love you. This love bond that forms between that grown up and you becomes stronger than any glue, even the strongest. It is my wish that every one of you will find the right grown-up to take care of you. I’m not talking about feeding and providing shelter. That you don’t have to worry about. There’s always food available for children.” Marie signaled us to line up before she led us to the dining area. She pointed to the kitchen first and the tables outside. There were a few grown-ups eating in the area. Teacher Marie had us line up while she prepared to speak. This was around evening time, just before dinner. I spotted one huge grown-up sitting by himself. He sat in a corner several tables down. The grown-up looked slightly different than other grown-ups I’ve seen. He looked huge just like a major worker. On his face were two bushy black eyebrows. His antennae longer than any antennae I’ve seen in the colony. The tip of his left antenna had a slight curve as if it had been slightly damaged from molting. On his face, he had an interesting expression. His eyes seemed to glow with the light. They were a sparkling blue-green color. The light played off his eyes making them shimmer like a toy gemstone. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or very sad. He looked angry if I glanced at him quickly, but if I stared into his eyes, he looked sad. The sad grown-up stared off in a distance looking like he was absorbed in a serious thought. What can make such a tough grown-up like this one so sad? I decided to find out. While Marie talked to the class, “Grown-ups that develop that special bond with a child are called a caregiver. A caregiver…” I took off and ran towards the worker. Marie suddenly looked alarmed.
“Mary, where are you going?” asked Marie while running to catch up with me. The grown up with the eyebrows turned his head and glanced in our direction briefly. I tried to run closer to the sad grown-up with the eyebrows, but suddenly Marie pulled me back and set me back in line.
“Wait!” I shouted, “I want to see that grown-up!” I yelled and pointed to the worker. This got his attention and he looked straight at me. He frowned and then looked away. The sad grown-up with the eyebrows returned to his serious thought while Marie scolded, “Mary, don’t ever run off! You can get seriously hurt.” Marie sighed and muttered to herself, “I’m glad I came early. If this was the rush hour…” Marie shook her head. Her antennae shook along with her head. She whispered to herself, “This kid is too much like the one I had to deal with when I just started teaching.”
“What?” I asked, “Who are you talking about?” Marie turned to me and replied, “Mary, you can’t just run off.”
“But you said to look for a grown-up,” I replied. Marie looked surprised while she whispered to herself, “I get this strange feeling I’ve heard this before.” Marie turned to the class and spoke louder, “Though I want every one of you to find a caregiver, I want you to be careful. Not every grown-up is capable of being a good caregiver. Some grown-ups can be bad to children.” While Marie continued with her speech to the class I watched the grown-up with the eyebrows. He was still staring off in the distance. The grown-up with the eyebrows lowered his long antennae and sighed. He got up and left. While Marie turned away briefly I took off and ran as fast as I could. Suddenly a loud clanging noise filled the air and several legs and claws filled the room. Countless grown-ups flooded the dining area. Lost, I tried to find the grown-up with the eyebrows. Not knowing where to go I walked straight ahead. Suddenly I bumped into something and fell on my back. I looked up to see what I bumped into. It was a leg that belonged to a major worker, the tallest caste of worker. The leg belonged to the worker with the eyebrows. He held a tray of food with one of his hands while he looked down at me. He did not look happy. He frowned. While he frowned his eyes turned a strange greenish color with some orange. Some workers around us cleared way looking scared. I did not feel scared of this grown-up. Instead I felt sadness. This sadness felt deeper than any sadness I knew. This was sadness deeper than a broken toy. It was sadness deeper than being picked on by the other students. While I looked into the grown-up’s greenish orange eyes, I felt like he was in pain of some sort. This pain felt deep and troubling. I lowered my antennae while I felt a strange feeling that everyone stopped to stare at us. No one was, though. Everyone around us was busy lining up and gathering their meals. The grown-up with the eyebrows seemed like he was crying even though his face showed anger and no tears. He looked away from me briefly and watched the other grown-ups around him with a look of worry on his face. It seemed like he was watching the colony as if it was calling him. Why the colony could be calling this grown-up and no other grown-up I did not know. When he noticed I was staring at him, he turned to me with a frown.
“Why so sad?” I asked. Suddenly the grown-up stopped frowning. He raised one of his eyebrows with a confused look. Quickly he frowned and tried staring at me again.
“I’m not sad,” he spoke loudly, “I’m angry and I will be very angry if you don’t go away and leave me alone right now!” The grown up did not convince me. I still felt his sadness. I reached out and hugged him. Because he was so tall, all I could hug was his leg.
“You are sad. I know you are,” I said. Looking into his stern face I asked, “Are you sad because you think something bad is going to happen to the colony?” A female grown-up turned to us and spoke, “Kid, get away from him right now!”
“Why?” I asked. Nothing about this worker appeared bad to me. The female grown-up continued, “Go away from him right now! You don’t want to get too close to him.” The eye-browed worker turned to me and spoke in a harsh voice, “She’s right. Stay away from me if you know what’s best for you. I can hurt you really bad.” The grown-up with the eyebrows frowned, but his sadness overwhelmed him and he lowered his antennae. He struggled to hold his frown. I still did not agree. This grown-up is not bad.
“I don’t believe you!” I answered loudly, “You can’t hurt me. You have a kind heart tube. I know you do.” I tapped his leg with my antennae and whispered, “I wish I knew your name.” The eye-browed worker looked surprised again. He raised an eyebrow along with one of his antennae. He sighed while his eyes returned to their normal blue-green, aqua color. His long antennae bobbed while he sighed. Taking a deep breath he spoke, “The name’s Marffey.” Marffey looked worried while he added, “Mary you look too young to be by yourself.” Shocked, I wondered how Marffey knew my name.
“Marffey, how’d you know my name?” I asked. Marffey shrugged while cocking an antenna off to the side. He spoke again, but his voice sounded friendly. Marffey looked at me with concern and spoke, “I heard your teacher call your name. You should listen to her. It is too dangerous to be out by yourself.” Smiling, I looked into Marffey’s aqua colored eyes and spoke, “That’s why I want to be with you. I won’t be by myself.” Marffey continued to look sad.
“Follow me,” he spoke. I tried to keep up with him but I got lost. Marffey found me and picked me up. He carried me for some distance and then stopped in front of Teacher Marie. I liked the view from Marffey’s arms. He stood taller than most grown-ups. The middle sized workers looked very short from Marffey’s arms. I could see the top of Marie’s head and antennae. Marie looked very worried and had tears in her eyes. Once Marffey got close to her, she tilted her head up and dried her eyes with her hand. Marffey handed me over to Marie. He spoke in a stern voice, “I found her by herself in the dining area. Make sure she doesn’t wander off like that.” Marffey frowned while Marie answered, “Thank you sir,” and set me down on the ground. She took my upper hand and held onto it with her lower hand. Marffey stared into her eyes. While still frowning, he spoke harshly, “I don’t want to ever see Mary pestering me again.” Marie nodded with a sad look on her face. She looked up at Marffey and spoke softly and lowered her antennae, “I’ll do the best I can.” Marie sighed and shoved her antennae out of her face before adding, “She’s a difficult child. Not that she’s troublesome, but she’s very intelligent for her age.” Marie looked up into Marffey’s eyes. Marffey remained quiet. His expression remained stern even though he stopped frowning. Marffey raised an eyebrow slightly. Marie sighed and muttered to herself while turning around to lead me back with the rest of the class, “I wonder how Jason ever managed to deal with that little kid years ago.” I turned around briefly to look at Marffey one last time. There was a slight grin on Marffey’s face. It looked like he was trying to hold back a chuckle. Marffey quickly became serious and frowned as soon as he noticed I was looking at him.