Ant's Arc

Chapter 9 of 12

Ant climbed the stone steps. Each one was smooth and cold under his legs. The carved doors stood at the top, taller than anything he had seen before. He reached the last step and stopped. The doors were already open. Just a crack, but enough to see darkness inside. He pushed through. The room beyond was not empty. Candles burned in a circle on the stone floor, their flames still and bright. In the center sat a white sheet, folded and clean, as if someone had placed it there moments before. Above it hung a bubble that shimmered with light and color, swirling slowly. Ant stepped closer. The bubble shifted, and images moved inside it. He saw ants walking in a line. He saw a leaf pressed against his back. He saw himself standing at a marker on a trail, remembering. The bubble showed him leaving his colony. Other ants gathered around him, placing the leaf carefully on his back. Their antennae touched his in farewell. The memory was clear now, not hidden or forgotten. They had sent him with purpose. They had given him the leaf to carry somewhere. But the bubble did not show where. It did not show why. It only showed the beginning, and then it stopped. Ant stood beneath the bubble and understood. The building had been waiting, but it had no answers. It only held what he already knew. The leaf was his to carry, and the choice of what to do with it was also his. He turned and walked back through the doors. The candles stayed burning behind him. The bubble continued to swirl. But Ant did not look back. He had come here to prepare, and now he was ready to decide.