The all-female army marches to war. No doubt over territory and resources.
I keep still as soldier after loyal soldier of the queen pass me, silent and determined.
The warrior at the front of the orderly line scales a rock many times her size, heedless of the difficult terrain. The soldier ants follow.
Afterword
The mission: to write a story of exactly 53 words about a “march”.
A marching band and police parading were the first things that came to mind. But I wanted something more unusual, ideally with a gripping first line and a twist.
In ant colonies, typically soldiers are female (usually larger and stronger than male counterparts). Did you know that?
At least one ant colony is exclusively female (the species M. smithii). The queen reproduces asexually; all offspring are clones of her. You can read more about them here.
Thus, this story was born.
P.S. No ants were harmed in the creation of this flash fiction piece.
Photo attribution: thanks to Janus Clemmensen on Unsplash.