Frederick Van Der Woodsen: A Short Story

One morning, when Frederick Van Der Woodsen awoke from frightening thoughts, he came to an unfortunate realization, he had mutated into a human. His eyes travelled down his body, inspecting his newfound frame, gigantic when compared to his original, pea sized, ant self. Six miniscule legs had been replaced with two arms and two legs, of considerable size. Reaching up, he used his thick fingers to inspect his head, feeling the fluffy hair that had replaced his smooth shell and antennae. Frederick lay in a lush field, wild yellow flowers the size of pennies shown and green grass scraped the overweight piece of meat he was encased in. His hive, or what was left of it, was squished beneath his back. Horridly, Frederick realized, “If the hive is

Looking straight ahead he found a large sign telling him he had staggered right into Nucla, Colorado. With this discovery sitting in his mind, Frederick continued to explore, searching for colony where he could explain his predicament. Human’s colonies came in all shapes and sizes, he had noted as a young ant, but to find the correct one he must consider all of what this town had to offer. He passed by many houses, scrutinizing each of them thoroughly. Frequently he would walk by a house that contained an inhabitant in the front lawn or on the sidewalk adjacent to their building. He would attempt to communicate to the humans, but as he had been an insect his whole life, and intended to become one once more, English did not come easily. Shrill cries would exit his mouth and the human they were directed at would walk swiftly away for him, or yell indiscriminate noise. Once in awhile the human would engage with a joking smile on their face. Frederick would grin back at the person, oblivious to the teasing he was being subject too. Spotting a hive of his interest, as it was tall, cone like and colored a sandy brown color,