Hallie the Harvester Ant: Never Give Up by Ladene Mayville - HTML preview

Ha

H la ie

lie

Harvester Ant

the

Never Give Up

Never Give Up

A Book By

A Book By

LaDene Mayville

Copyright © 2014 by LaDene Mayville. 539742

ISBN: Softcover

9781493176724

EBook

9781493176731

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of ¿ ction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used ¿ ctitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 02/14/2014

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Hallie

the Harvester Ant

Never Give Up

A Book By

LaDene Mayville

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Hallie is a harvester ant.

Harvester ants live in dens underground, deep beneath the desert sand.

Inside the den thousands of ants zip through a maze of tunnels where they live and work.

Hallie is proud of her job. She is commander of the scout teams who search for food. Scouts feed the colony and they make sure no ant goes hungry.

At sunrise, the scout teams hit the dusty trails searching for food.

Life was good until the day she almost disappeared beneath the sand forever.

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Hallie and her team were far from home when suddenly the ground began to shake. A thunderous roar filled the air as giant yellow monsters rumbled toward the ants, smashing everything in their path.

Thick, black smoke darkened the sky and choked the ants as they scattered and ran for their lives.

Desperate to get away, Hallie raced toward a small tree when suddenly she found herself falling, tumbling head over heels.

Dirt and rock rained down around the frightened ant until she was buried under a heap of rubble.

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“Where am I? How do I get out of here?” Hallie remembered what her mother told her a long time ago, “Harvester ants are experts at digging. They never quit until the job is done. ” So she started to dig.

Finally free of her trap, she choked out a raspy “hello?”

Hearing nothing, she yelled out “HELLO

HELLO? Hello? Hello?” Her

voice echoed into the darkness.

“Am I in a tunnel? Where is everyone? Am I am all alone?” A hundred questions raced through her mind.

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Hallie sat still trying to think of what to do next. At last she stood up, took a deep breath, and bravely stepped into the darkness.

As the ant walked through the tunnel she was amazed. “Wow, we harvesters ants do such fine work.” Suddenly, she stopped.

“What happened to the ants?”

“I think those noisy yellow monsters ate the ants!” She swallowed a rising lump in her throat. Thinking of scary yellow monsters caused Hallie to start running. She had to find a way out.

BAM!

BAM! Blindly, she ran into a wall knocking her flat on her back.

The poor little ant was so deep in thought she never noticed the dead-end.

“That’s strange, why didn’t they finish this tunnel?” She was confused and sat up with her arms and legs crossed, trying to think. She snapped her fingers as she remembered what her mother said, “A harvester ant never quits. She never gives up.

She never leaves her work undone.”

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Hallie got up from the ground. “Well, I sure can’t get out this way,” she said, shaking off the dust.

The lost ant searched a new tunnel but she was getting tired and hungry. She missed her family. Feeling sad and homesick her pace began to slow. “Why don’t I just admit the truth? I’m lost. I’m never finding my way home.”

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Stumbling on through the darkness another dead-end knocked her off her feet. Frustrated, she just lay there and started to cry.

“I can’t do this anymore. I’m never getting out of here. Oh, what’s the use, I QUIT!” she cried out, her hope lost.

Exhausted, Hallie cried herself to sleep. After her restless nap she slowly made her way back to where she started. Then she plopped down on the floor, worn and defeated.

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Rubbing her eyes dry Hallie noticed another tunnel-- but something about this one scared her. The tunnel opening was very small. The walls were jagged and rough. Sharp rocks stuck out like thorns. A nasty odor made her cry out, “phew, it stinks.”

Peeking inside she spied old spider webs. Decayed arms and legs dangled in the sticky threads. “This place gives me the creeps,” Hallie shivered. “I am not going in there. No Way.”

She thought of her family, her colony, and her queen. “They must be looking for me. They’ll never find me down here.”

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Hallie knew just what she had to do. Feeling brave, she boldly crawled through the narrow opening, into the creepy tunnel.

The ant crept slowly, deep into the dark, until it was so tight she couldn’t move.

“Oh no, I’m stuck!” she cried out in a panic. Hallie knew her job was dangerous. Still, the scout commander never imagined she would end up stuck in an old tunnel, alone.

She remembered the queen’s orders to the team, “Scouts, do your duty for the colony. Be safe. Report back before dark.”

“I must get out of here. The queen is counting on me. I am Lead Scout and the colony needs me.”

Hallie clenched her jaws and started digging through the dirt with all her might. She pushed and pushed, deeper and deeper, until finally she broke free of the trap with a loud “POP.”

“I’m free!” she yelled out. The ant saw a light shining at the end of the dark tunnel and knew she had found a way out.

She ran as fast as she could to the end of the tunnel and to freedom. Blinking back the bright sunlight, Hallie stepped onto the hot desert sand.

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The ant took in a deep breath of fresh air. She stood still for a moment, soaking in the warmth of the sun. “I made it,” she whispered, grateful to be alive.

“Hallie!” familiar voices broke through the silence. Startled, she turned to see her sister ants running toward her, their arms open wide.

She ran out to meet them and they all fell to the ground laughing and crying. “I knew you would find me,” Hallie exclaimed. “Of course we found you,” said the sisters. “We promised the queen we would never give up searching until we did.”

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“Commander,”

“Commander,” boomed a voice of authority. In recognition, the ants immediately stood and bowed low for the queen.

Obeying, Hallie stepped forward. The queen’s eyes were kind and warm as she tenderly reached out to calm the trembling ant. “I was so worried. I thought we lost you,” said the queen.

Choking back tears the queen whispered, “I thought you were gone, my daughter.” Unable to hold back any longer Hallie ran into the queen’s arms. Mother and daughter held onto each other tightly as they both cried.

Finally, the queen let go, stepped back and wiped her eyes dry.

She cleared her throat saying, “Come. We must go, the colony is waiting. There is much work to be done.”

“Yes, Mother,” Hallie bowed low to her queen. The commander then turned to her sister ants and said with a wink of her eye,

“A harvester ant never leaves her work undone. She never quits. And she never, ever gives up.”

THE END

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