By Terri Coffman
AUTHOR’S NOTE: INVASION!
is based on a true story. The
experience with these ants when I was 11 years old, growing up in the Belizean jungle with my younger sister, is
forever etched in my memory.
Toni
looked up as a flock of parrots noisily made their way to their nests for the
night. Around their small house, the
jungle was like a dark wall. A shiver
ran up her spine.
"Hurry
up, Emily," she called. "It's
almost dark. We need to get
inside."
Screams
of pain and fright pierced the twilight.
"Emily!" Toni raced to her little sister, who had
been feeding the chickens behind the barn.
"They're
biting me! Get 'em off! Toni!
Help!"
Toni
began stripping off Emily’s clothes.
Ants, big, black, and biting were embedding themselves in her skin. She tugged and pulled and smashed the last
ant into the ground with her foot.
"Come
on!" She grabbed the howling,
naked child, and half pulled and half dragged her towards the house. "We have to put something on those
bites."
One
thing Toni had learned while living in Belize was that bacteria grows quickly
in the jungle. Wounds, even minor ones,
can become seriously infected within hours if left unattended.
"But
- my clothes!" Emily sobbed.
"Forget
it! They're history. Now, come on!"
"Toni,
it feels like I've been stung by bees!
I'm bleeding, too." Emily swiped at her arms and legs dotted with
bright specks of blood. "What kind
of ants make you bleed?"
"Those
kind ... look!" Toni pointed.
To the
left, for as far as they could see, the ground was covered in black swarming
mounds, massive and moving. The earth
seemed to rise and fall under the horrifying procession of ants. But they were not ordinary ants. Army ants!
"What
are we going to do?" Emily's voice
was barely above a whisper.
Toni
stood trembling, transfixed by the dark mass overtaking the small mango tree
orchard. She couldn’t even see the
flower beds already buried under a horrifying blanket of ants. If only her parents were home! They were Peace Corps medics and had been
called to a neighboring village that morning to help with a malaria
outbreak.
Her
heart seemed to pound about in her body.
Her thoughts raced wildly. She
couldn’t let panic overtake her. She
couldn’t fall apart. She had to try to
stay calm so she could think straight.
What was it her dad told her about army ants? He called them the jungle's deadliest enemy - Nature's
terminator. She shuddered
violently. Almost one-third of an inch
long, they have gigantic sword-sharp jaws.
They can easily rip and tear apart any living creature unlucky enough to
get caught in their path. Humans were
no exception. Huge legions, numbering
in the millions, would sometimes join together in massive food hunts. When they were through pillaging, they would
form smaller groups and disappear into the jungle. Nothing short of fire stops them, he warned. Toni began trembling as the horrorifying
reality hit her. Living in a thatched
roof house, they couldn't use fire. So,
like the animals, escape would be their only hope as well.
They
had to act fast!
"First,
we have to release the animals! Let's
go!"
"But,
I'm naked!"
"The
animals don't care!"
Feathers flew as noisy chickens darted in and
out, making their escape around the small stampede of frightened cows and
bolting horses’ hooves. At least the
animals would be safe. But what about
them? It was almost nightfall. They would be at the mercy of the darkness
and the ants. The ants were only a few
hundred feet north of the house. To
heck with the dark, Toni thought, we can outrun them, if we leave now.
She
dragged Emily through the front door into the kitchen to the first aid
box. Emily winced and squirmed as Toni
dabbed iodine on the wounds.
"Now,"
Toni commanded, snapping the box shut, "hurry and get dressed while I pack
a bag. We have to leave while there's
still time."
But there was no time left.
Through the windows, Toni saw the front and sides of the house already
teeming with ants. They were pouring
through cracks and crevices. They were
tumbling through the windows that she hadn’t gotten closed in time. They were crawling up the walls and invading
the thatching. Her mind reeled as she
swung around, desperately looking for an escape. They could try for the back, cut through the vegetable garden,
and head for the river and ...
An
ear-piercing screams shot through her like a knife, causing her to drop the
overnight bag, spilling its contents.
"They're
coming in from the back! We're
trapped! I want Mama!"
Toni’s
arm shot out in time to stop her sister's hysterical flight through the front
door into the throng of ants. She held
on firmly as Emily, screaming and crying, tried to break free. "Let me go! We have to run! We have
to find Mama and Daddy!"
Almost
of its own accord, her hand struck her face, once, twice. The sound of contact brought Emily out of
her hysteria. She collapsed at Toni's
feet, sobbing.
"I'm
scared," she whimpered. "Make
them go away!"
She
knelt down and tenderly pulled her little sister to her, wiping at her
tears. "I know you're scared,
honey. I'm am, too. But we have to stay together."
Emily
clung to her tightly. "What's
going to happen to us?"
Toni
swallowed hard before answering as calmly as she could. "I don't know. All we can do now is wait - and pray. Maybe they’ll find everything they need
outside and in the leaves of the house."
Within
minutes, the interior walls were laced with black. Terrified, Toni and Emily stayed as far away from each of the
walls as possible. They clung together
in the middle of the room, and waited for the inevitable. The light from the windows had faded. Lit only by a kerosene lamp inside, the ants
cast nightmarish shadows while foraging in deadly silence. The only sound came from the thatched
roof. Its dry leaves rustled and
cracked ominously under the weight of the intruding horde.
Please,
don't let it cave in! Toni prayed, imagining her own epitaph: Antoinnette Blythestone, age 13, eaten by ants.
A few
ants fell close to their feet. Emily
screamed. "They're falling
down! They're gonna get us!" Once again, she tried to twist free of
Toni's tight hold.
"No,
they're not! They just lost their
hold!" Toni struggled frantically
to restrain her little sister.
"You can't get out! Emily,
be still!"
This time,
she wouldn't listen. She fought and
struggled so wildly, Toni was beginning to lose her grip. She twisted around and threw one leg over
the child's chest and pushed her back, pinning her to the ground. Exhausted, Emily gave up the struggle and
sat scrunched tightly with her head against Toni’s shoulder.
Hours
passed. Then, as quickly and
mysteriously as they appeared, the ants suddenly began to retreat. Organizing themselves in neat, foot-wide
columns, they filed systematically out of the house and back into the jungle,
leaving no sign of their frightening invasion.
With
the last flicker of the lamplight, night gave way to dawn. Toni and Emily awoke from a fitful sleep on
the floor, to the sound of a thousand birds singing their praises to the morning. Bright sunshine poured in as both girls
swung open windows and doors. The whole
jungle seemed to be fresh and alive again.
The animals had returned and were calmly grazing through the remnants of
the orchard and vegetable garden. It
made last night seem almost like a bad dream.
“We
made it! We made it!” Emily sang happily, dancing around like a
ballerina. “Do you think Mommy and Daddy will be home soon?”
“I
think so.”
Toni’s
smile was one of self-satisfaction. Yes, she thought, watching her little
sister with renewed affection. It’s
great to be alive!