Ant's Arc

Chapter 5 of 12

Ant walked until the shed was far behind him. The hills stretched ahead, empty and quiet. He did not know where he was going. He only knew he had chosen to keep walking with one leaf instead of staying with many. A book lay in the grass ahead, its spine facing up. The cover showed intricate leaf patterns pressed into dark leather, and gold letters spelled out a title. Ant stopped. He recognized it. This was the book the creature had mentioned, the one that held every leaf that could not be shed. Someone must have dropped it. Or left it behind on purpose. Ant crouched and opened it. The pages were thick, each one holding a single pressed leaf with notes beneath. He turned past oak and maple and birch, past leaves he did not recognize. Then he stopped. His own leaf lay pressed flat against the page, its edges and veins drawn in perfect detail. Beneath it, a name had been written in careful ink. But someone had crossed it out, dragging thick black lines through every letter until nothing remained but darkness. Ant closed the book and set it down in the grass. He stood and pressed one foot into the soft earth beside it, leaving a clear mark. The creature had not just known about his leaf. It had recorded him. Maybe it had named him, or maybe someone else had. Either way, the name was gone now, erased as if it had never mattered. Ant turned and kept walking. He did not need the book to tell him who he was. He already knew he was the one still carrying it.