text: Author's Note: Hello Everybody!! So, this story is written in collaboration with my friend, Keerththan!! His works are really nice, you should surely check them out!! “It has come!” said Uriah, jumping excitedly, “Fall. The Fall.” “Yeah, we will go for apple picking now!” said Yue. “Yay, woo-hoo!” Uriah was a young boy with short black hair and black eyes. Yue, just like him, had black hair and eyes. “Take the baskets and we are going!” Yue exclaimed. They lived in a tribe in the middle of a forest. There weren’t many children of their age in the tribe. So, they spent their time together. And apple picking was their favorite. They walked through the forest path. It was covered with dead leaves and the duo seemed to enjoy walking through the path. *** Uriah picked an apple and turned it around in his hand. “These apples look different from the regular one, don’t they?” Yue looked at him suspiciously and said, “Don’t you dare to eat them before taking them back home.” “No, I ain’t eating them. I’m just saying that they look different.” “Maybe they do but does it matter?” said Yue. “Now, put it back into the basket. We need to go back now.” Uriah cleared his throat. “What?” “Can’t I take a bite of it? Just one bite, it looks so yum.” “No.” “Just one?” “No.” “Please!” “Ok, just one and it will be your fault if Ma or Papa found out about it.” “Okay!” said Uriah, washing the apple with the water from his water bottle. He looked at the apple and was about to eat it when suddenly Yue shouted, “Did you forget your manners? Thank to the God before eating the apple.” “Oh, sorry.” “Not ‘sorry’, say ‘thank you’ to the god.” “Ok, umm...” Uriah said and closed his eyes. “Thank you, God, for providing me with such beautiful nature to live in, such a supportive family to stay with and such yum apples to eat...” He ate the apple as soon as he opened his eyes. “Wow! This is really so yum! Wanna take a bite?” “No,” “Yum-yum” “Hmm... You got me. I will take a bite, just a single bite.” “Yeah, take one bite and I’m sure you won’t be able to stop yourself from eating all the apples in the basket,” Uriah said with a laugh. Yue eyed him, snatched the apple from his hand, and took a bite. “Hmm... these apples are really tasty, I’m sure Ma and Papa will love them.” “Told ya, they are different ‘because they are more yum,” Uriah said and took the basket in his hands. “Yeah, and it’s getting late now. We should go back.” So they started walking. *** Uriah was humming a melodious tune along with the birds when he suddenly stopped and said, “Don’t you think that these trees look different? Like taller?” “Oh my god, Uriah!” Yue sighed. “What is wrong with you?” “There is nothing wrong with me! These trees are really taller and bigger.” Yue had also noticed that by now. Something was wrong. They couldn’t see the top of even the smallest trees and the tiny grass was up to their waistline. Then a big, monstrous creature came in front of them. It was as big as a elephant. “What is this creature?” Uriah asked. “I don’t know.” “It looks like a mouse.” “Mouse are not that big!” “I know but trees and grass are also not that tall.” The rat hissed at them. And then suddenly, it hit them both. “We have become small, Uriah,” Yue shouted. “WHAT? HOW? What shall we do now?” Uriah asked. “RUN!” Yue yelled and grabbed Uriah’s hand. They started running and the rat started chasing them. “Drop the apples, Uriah,” Yue said. “Why?” Uriah asked. “It's chasing us because of the apples,” Yue said and Uriah dropped the apples right away. The rat stopped and started to munch on the apples. “All the apples are gone now.” “See?” said Yue, ignoring Uriah, “I told you not to eat those apples, we became small because of those apples.” “You also ate those apples.” “Yeah, but-” Yue stopped, her eyes wide open. “Look there!” She pointed to her front. “Wait...why? What now?” Uriah said and turned slowly. The antenna of the creature was very high and it was so big, almost the size of a football for the duo. The stingers of the creature looked gigantic and were just before Uriah. “I think we should run,” Yue suggested. “I THINK THE SAMEEE! But wait, I can't run, I am tired.” “What?” “Hmm... it’s just an ant, lemme speak to it,” Uriah said and approached that ant. “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, URIAH?” Yue said but Uriah ignored her and went to the Ant. “Hello, Mr.-,” Uriah said and stretched out his hand to the large-sized ant. “Antonio. Mr. Antonio,” the ant said, “But I don’t shake hands. Thank you so much!” “Ants talk?” Yue asked, surprised. “Yeah, why won’t we?” “So, Mr. Antonio, we have a seriously big problem,” Uriah said. “We ate an apple and shrank in size, do you know how to cure us?” “Oh, this same thing has also happened to another human,” Mr. Antonio said. “Really? What happened to him then? How did he grow back to normal size?” Yue asked. “Actually, he never grew back...” “What? Why?” said Uriah. “What happened to him then?” Yue asked. “... ‘cause we killed him and the same is going to happen to you!” “WHAAAT?!” Uriah and Yue looked at each other with their mouth wide open. They were going to be killed by ants? And to put the fuel in the fire, another ant emerged from the grass and whispered to Mr. Antonio, “Sir, this boy is the one who killed our general Anterio.” “What? How dare he? Arrest him!” Mr. Antonio ordered. “Yes, sir!” Two ants put metal handcuffs on Uriah’s and Yue’s hands and started dragging them. “I told you not to play with ants. We are suffering for that now,” Yue whispered to Uriah. “Sorry, I was bored so I just took an ant with my pen-” Uriah started whispering, but was cut off by Yue, “Shut up now!” Yue and Uriah were taken into a large mud castle. “Bring them in,” Mr. Antonio said. So, Uriah and Yue were taken into the cellar of the castle. It was as dark as the deepest ocean. The guards locked them up in the cellar. “LET US OUT, YOU STUPID ANTS!!!” Uriah shouted but nobody replied to him. *** “What are we going to do now?” Uriah said. “I don't know,” Yue replied. “I think we should plan something.” “Yup, let me think of something.” “Yeah, hmm...” “Wait...ok, so, this castle is made of mud, right? That means that we can dig our way out.” “Whoo! That's a wonderful idea.” “But that won't work,” an old voice said. “Who are you?” Yue asked. “And why won’t it work?” “An old man,” said the voice, (‘ Man? ’ Yue thought) “And this castle is made of mud but underground is made of steel, which means you can't dig after a certain level,” “How do you know?” Uriah asked. “I know because I helped in building that steel platform,” “How long have you been here?” Yue asked. “For almost five years. I have tried every possible way to escape, but I failed, every time. I have lost my hope now...” replied that old ant. “Oh, don't loose your hope, we can do this together,” Yue said. But suddenly, the ground started to shake. The guards of the cellar started running here and there. “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?” Uriah shouted. “I think it's a spider attack,” that old ant said, leaning on the cellar window. “What? What will happen now? What will they do?” Yue asked. “They are ant hunters. They have probably come to destroy this place and kill the ants. But we are safe,” the aged ant said. “Can the ants win them?” Yue asked. “Well, I don’t think so. They have never managed to win against the spiders. Many ants have died in the attack,” that old ant said. “We should save the ants,” Yue whispered to Uriah. “What? Why? They put us into this mess and you want me to save them!?” Uriah shouted back. “Shut up, Uriah! We need to save them and we will.” “Whatever,” Uriah smirked. *** “Eat this!” a soldier said and gave a plate to Uriah. Soldier ant then ran away as fast as he could. “Okay, I got an idea,” Yue said and looked at the plate. It was filled with all kinds of fruits and nuts. “What is it?” Uriah asked. “Be patient, I’ll tell you!” Yue replied and started discussing the plan with the other two. After some time of planning, Uriah and Yue started shouting, “LET US OUT! WE CAN HELP Y’ALL!” “Why are you shouting?” a guard asked, coming to them. He was knocked out in a single punch from Uriah. “Do you know where they have the keys to the cellar?” Yue asked the old Ant. “Yeah, I know. They keep it inside the spear that they have. Give that spear to me,” that old Ant said and Uriah passed the spear to him. “Aargh,” the old Ant shouted and broke open the spear. The keys felled with a small clinking sound. “Thanks!” Uriah said and opened the prison door. Uriah and Yue rushed through the palace hall and exited the sandcastle. The spiders were as big as an eagle. But Uriah and Yue knew what to do. Yue took the fruits and nuts in his hand and threw them near a tree. Within minutes, the sparrows and many other birds arrived. So, when the sparrows arrived, the spiders backed up and retreated from the ants. The sparrows started chasing the spiders and they started running haywire. “Uriah, the sparrows may target the ants, too,” Yue said. “Yeah, but we can’t do anything to that, Yue.” “Don’t be a fool, Uriah. Come with me.” So, Yue dragged Uriah to ants. They ordered them all to go to the sandcastle. All the ants followed their order and they were saved. The sparrows and the spiders cleared the place in minutes. Mr. Antonio called Uriah and Yue to his chamber. Mr. Antonio said, “You saved our ants, so you deserve a reward for that!” Uriah and Yue listened quietly to him. “So, I have decided that you can go now,” Mr. Antonio said, “And yeah, take this.” He gave them a small bottle with gold-colored liquid in it. “What is it?” Uriah asked. “It’s a potion. It will make you grow back to your normal size.” “Really? Thank you so much, Mr. Antonio,” Yue said. “You don’t need to thank me, I am the one who should thank you,” Mr. Ant said and the whole castle members waved goodbye to Uriah and Yue. And they came out into an open field. “I bet Ma and Papa would have been worried,” Yue said. “No question about that,” Uriah laughed. “So, now drink this potion.” They swallowed the golden potion and slowly started growing. “We should get back home as soon as possible,” Yue said as she was going. “Yeah,” Uriah said. *** “Where did you both go?” Ma inquired after they reached their home. “Sorry, Ma, we were lost in the jungle,” Yue said. “Oh, you should take care form next time,” Ma said. “But now you should go and take dinner.” “Okay, Ma.” Uriah and Yue grinned. “Why are you grinning now?” Ma asked. “Nothing, Ma.” So, they went to take dinner, grinning all the way. And there was only little chance for their mothers to know the reason behind their grin.