When You Don’t Fit
When you fit, you’re invisible . . .
“I want to be an artist.”
The queen growled.
“For the last time, we don’t need artists. We need laborers. If everyone did what they wanted, what would we eat? Where would we live?”
“There are millions of us! Why can’t I be different?”
“But why you?”
“Because I’m asking.”
She let him try. In a month the hill was covered in a rainbow of swirls and circles. The word spread. In a jungle of 400 trillion ants, he was the only one with a name.
The Artist.
. . .When you don’t, you’re all they see.
* * *
In 1835, French naturalist George Valentin came across a nest of Argentine ants in the Corrientes province of Argentina. It was three feet high and covered in symmetrical patterns of berries and twigs, including one design that many claim to be the figure of an ant. It was destroyed in a flood the next year. To date, it remains the only example of ant artwork ever found. Source*.
*Okay, so this didn’t actually happen. But it makes a good story.
The Green-Walled Tower 
December 5th, 2020 at 12:29 pm
Very entertaining story, David!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
December 5th, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Thanks, Susan!
December 5th, 2020 at 12:48 pm
I think this is FF, right? I know the name of the photographer. Yes, entertaining is apt, but wonder if people know how hard it is to be wry and clever, with so few words. This would be great on your what I call your Aesop site. You can extend it maybe. Now I’m thinking it’s not a Friday Fictioneer, but it’s still clean, short and spare, my kinda essay. Your Pal
December 5th, 2020 at 1:07 pm
It is a FF story, although so late that it’s hard to tell. 🙂 I used to give some indication of that at the beginning, but not anymore. Thanks for reading.
December 5th, 2020 at 3:12 pm
I loved it. 🙂
December 5th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
What a wonderful story, David!
I think I’d like to be the one who doesn’t necessarily fit… well, not all the time, anyway 😉
Hahahaha! Clever you! Love your “Source” link…
December 6th, 2020 at 8:30 pm
I suppose it has good and bad parts to being different, so I guess the sweet spot is to be just a little different. It’s the closest I get to one of Rochelle’s history pieces, but of course with me it’s a total lie, haha.
December 6th, 2020 at 8:31 pm
Yes. Different just enough to be interesting and not the freak that everyone avoids! Haha.. If you say so 😉
December 5th, 2020 at 3:22 pm
glad he didn’t suffer the fate of a nail sticking out that got hammered down.
December 6th, 2020 at 8:28 pm
That is often the case, unfortunately. But it would have made a depressing story in that case. Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙂
December 5th, 2020 at 6:31 pm
Ant artwork! Cool. Thanks for sharing the story and the story.
December 6th, 2020 at 8:27 pm
Thanks for reading. 🙂
December 6th, 2020 at 4:43 am
Dear David,
Imaginative and fun. It would make a great animated film. 😀 I love the idea of an artistic ant who doesn’t quite fit.
Shalom,
Rochelle
December 6th, 2020 at 8:26 pm
After writing it, it dawns on me that it might be too close to the movies Ants or A Bugs Life. Animated movies love to focus on the hero who doesn’t fit in. 🙂 In any case, thanks for reading and commenting.
-David
December 7th, 2020 at 8:20 am
I like that daring to be different to serve the community in other ways.
December 8th, 2020 at 6:10 pm
It really does. People don’t realize what is good until someone is daring enough to try it; then we can’t live without it.
December 7th, 2020 at 6:19 pm
At first I though of bees, but I was pleased to be wrong, I enjoyed this
December 8th, 2020 at 6:09 pm
Yeah, I thought of doing with the bees dancing angle, but it seemed too obvious. Glad you liked it.
December 7th, 2020 at 10:54 pm
Oh, you got me, hook, line, and sinker. I wanted to believe so bad!
December 8th, 2020 at 12:07 am
Haha, yeah me too. Sorry for the misdirection. I write the world I want to live in, but I figured I had to come clean eventually. 🙂
December 8th, 2020 at 12:12 am
lol. No need to apologize. I enjoyed it while it lasted. I wrote a story today about becoming a tree for a season.