Question

Continue The Story V….
Part I

Smoldering under a door mat a colony of ants have built a kingdom.  The door mat itself remains untouched as it belongs to Grant Perkins and he’s been dead for thirty years.  It may seem trivial to note, but Mr. Perkins hung himself in the foyer swinging limply above his baby grand.  His body was discovered by Rita who often “checked in” on old Mr. Perkins.  The scream she let out was heard blocks away.  Sometimes you can still hear the screams…

Comments

I do implore the others to join in on the fun.  You can twist and turn this story any way that suits you.  This is not a technical challenge, just a fun one...

Please join in!

Doug

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The ants are a huge plus in constructing a story.  Thanks for that.

Answer 1

Ants! Ants!  Perkins always hated those creatures.  If there was anything left to nibble on after these many years, they'd be walking in lines to steal his food like a fire brigade - pass the bucket.  But everything was eaten by now, so they had to live on the scraps someone might drop on the sidewalk.

Ants.  They have a social order and a queen.  This always disturbed Grant Perkins because it reminded him of his own family.  Queen Mother called all the shots and everyone else just toed the line.  Maybe that's why he ended up swinging by the neck over his favorite piano.

Answer 2

"Mother.  Do I have to grow up and have a family of my own?"

"Yes, Grant.  That is expected of you.  Don't worry.  I'll be there."

"Mother.  Do I have to grow up to fight in a war?"

"That's expected of you, too.  Don't worry.  I'll be there if you get back."

"Can't I just stay home and play my piano?"

"No, Grant.  You will become a man and know your duties.  Just look at those ants.  Each one knows his duty and the queen must be fed first.  Enough silly talk.  Go wash up  then we'll have dinner."

Comments

I'm heading out of town this weekend.  Will be back Monday.

Answer 3

Ben and Thomas skipped down the sidewalk being careful to make a tiny lift whenever they reached a crack.  It made them look silly to Sally, but she continued to watch their every move.  She was home sick from school and was perched at her bedroom window trying to fight the boredom she was experiencing.  Her mother had brought her a sandwich and some soup a few minutes ago, but it  remained untouched.  She was more interested in what Ben and Thomas were up to.  They were scamps and she did have a fondness for their absurdities and their playfulness.  She had wanted to ask Ben to the Harvest dance, but she chickened out.

Ben and Thomas reached the end of the street and were about to turn around and head back home when they heard a shrill scream.  Their eyes blazed a circular path following the scream to locate it.  The scream died out, but Ben and Thomas had found the source, it was the old Perkin’s house.  They both stood there dumbstruck, neither with any idea, or maybe too many ideas about how to proceed.  Fight or flee…investigate or run…images of terror tempered by inquisitiveness.  Ben and Thomas took one step forward.

Sally saw them disappear behind the hemlocks…

Comments

The ants aren't the main characters in the story giraffe.  They are part of the decor..lol.

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how didn't i notice this.  will respond soon.

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Then 'decor' it shall be!

Answer 4

Rita was still screaming when she banged loudly on Sally's door.  "What's the matter, Rita?  Are you OK?"

"Jou must call police now!" she said.  "Senor Perkins. he is death now."  She was still holding her cleaning bucket and mop.  "It's too much for me to clean and he wouldn't pay me.  Jou do it."  She dropped her supplies on the porch and ran off while Sally grabbed the phone.

"Officer?  Marguerita Consuelo Gonzalez was just here.  She says there is big trouble at Grant Perkins' house.  Please rush.  I think someone is dead and the Whitehall twins may be involved.  Yes, Ben and Thomas.  I saw them skipping in that direction just a few minutes before Rita screamed.   Please hurry!"

Sally heard the distant sirens as she went back to her window.  She noticed that her sandwich was covered with ants, but the soup was clean and still hot.  She drank it from the bowl.

Answer 5

"You must be feeling better."  Sally's mom said - taking the tray.  "But you didn't touch your sandwich.  Don't you like my new chocolate sauce?"

"Not on pastrami, Mama.  I've told you that.  Why don't you go eat it yourself.  I haven't even touched it."

"Very well Sally, but I don't think I can eat with all that wailing outside.  Did the kitty get out again?"

"No, Mama.  Look.  She's right there.  I think it's Mr. Perkins' cat and they're letting it in right now.  Go enjoy your sandwich.  The meowing will stop soon."

Sally had learned from very early childhood that to humor her mother's illness was much easier than trying to tell her the truth.  It was second nature to her now.  Maybe that's why she had this fascination with the Whitehall twins.  They were schizophrenia on 4 legs.

'But why Ben?'  she thought.  'They're identical.'  All she wanted was to kiss Ben behind the barn at the Harvest Dance.  It was a stroke of genious to implicate them in this crime.  That way she would get to know Ben better before she recalled that they were 2 houses away when the screaming began.

The "siren cats'" had stopped and Mama must have enjoyed her sandwich.  She was out watering the Gladiolas with ants all over her chin.  Sally giggled.  It looked like a goatee.

"Oh, Ben," she said aloud,  "Get me out of here.  Be my knight.  Skip with ME."

Answer 6

Ben and Thomas were nearly to the side door of the Perkin’s house when they heard the sirens.  That was all they had to hear.  They bolted for the carriage house fifty yards away and hid behind it getting brandlebrired by the sticker bushes that grew up like giant mushrooms.  It did make for good cover and their wounds weren’t deadly.  

The police came and left as fast as they came doing a quick survey of the property and finding nothing amiss.  Ben and Thomas waited a few more minutes before untangling themselves from the briar patch and then snuck their way back out to the sidewalk and headed towards home.

Along the way they saw Sally up in her window with a devilish smile on her face.  Ben shot her a quick glance and a smile and both boys continued on back home.

Sally’s mom, tending to her work, didn’t notice the ants slowly crawling in her ear one after another…