Bug and the Red Felt

Bug & The Red Felt

By Emma Knights

One sunny day, Bug made her way inside. She had heard of the inside and wanted to see it for herself. Bug was an ant, and she was small even for an ant. She raced under the door and looked around. There was a large black mountain that caught her eye.

She headed towards it and started her climb. Up, up and up she went. She stopped a few times along the way. She could see herself in the mountain and wondered if she was seeing herself or whether there was another ant who lived here. She raced as fast as she could and squeezed through a tiny crevice. Inside the black mountain it was dark. There were a lot of scary shapes and she started to feel a little scared.

Suddenly light came in as the top of the mountain lifted. Bug looked to the light and then at her surroundings. Below her was the brightest red colour she had ever seen. She stepped onto it and it was so soft under her feet. She did not know it, because she was an ant, but she was stepping on red felt. She got comfortable and fell asleep.

Just as her eyes closed a terribly loud noise was made and she felt a shudder in the mountain. She looked up and it was like the inside of the mountain had come to life. There were hammers and strings and then…beautiful sounds. Bug was mesmerised. The nest where she used to live never had sounds like this. Bug started to walk higher inside the mountain.

As she was walking taking in all the sounds, she was not paying attention and right next to her a hammer hit a string. The string she had crawled up vibrated and she nearly lost her balance. Then the hammer on the string she was on started coming straight towards her. She dashed about in a flurry avoiding hammers trying to squash her left and right. All the while the music played. Just when she thought she was safe a sheet of white came across and so she raced across to the side of the black mountain where it was safe.

A few minutes later, the mayhem stopped and the mountain top closed and it was dark and quiet. Bug had never had such an exciting or scary day. She went back down to the soft red spot and fell asleep.

The next day she woke and saw small snippets of light coming in near the red felt. She decided to explore as she was hungry. She found a lot of dust, eraser dustings and a few biscuit crumbs. She nibbled away at them until her stomach was full. She walked toward the light and popped up on the outside of the black mountain. She could not believe her eyes. Before her was a field of white with small black hills popping up in sets of twos and threes. Not that she could count but she instinctively knew there was a pattern.

The next few days Bug raced around the strings and the hammers and would venture out to the white fields too. She found that some of the white was a little sticky, so she tried to avoid those ones.

One day a small human came racing up as Bug was walking along the white field. The small human started hitting the bottom of the field, making very loud and very low sounds. They rumbled through the white field and so Bug raced back onto her red spot.

The small human came every now and then and so Bug learnt that she needed to hide on those days. On another day Bug noticed a bigger human come to the white fields with the black hills. The mountain top lifted and the bigger human gently placed their hands on the white fields. They gently pressed and the inside of the mountain came to life. These sounds were very beautiful, and Bug watched the inside of the mountain with joy in her heart.

The bigger human came again the next day and the next. They played the same beautiful sounds and Bug decided to move and listen in different places. She had learnt which parts would try to squash her at which spot so she raced around avoiding them as she stayed still next to a vibrating string. Bug decided she really liked her new home. There were always new flavours of biscuit to find and she had her red spot to sleep. She grew to love the movements inside the mountain and the sounds it made.

Some days the bigger human would come and play a different song. Some were faster and some were louder. Bug found out that she could work out a travel path after a few listens and she enjoyed the daily routine of listening and running around. Sometimes for fun she would wait until the last minute to move or hold onto a string down lower in the mountain where it became very loud and very dark. Bug loved every part and swore she would never leave.

One day the bigger human sat down, and Bug noticed her cheeks were damp. The bigger human put their hands on the white fields but did not press them down. Bug wondered what had happened. The bigger human made it dark over the white fields and the mountain was dark and silent for a few days. Bug started to feel lonely and sad. Would the sounds every return? Would there be light again? She sat on her red spot and thought about returning to her nest.

The day she decided to leave, just as she was heading through the crack, the white fields lid lifted, and Bug watched with joy as the light lit up the fields and the black hills. Then the mountain top lifted. The small human came to the white field and much more gently that they had done before, they pressed on the white field. A note came. Bug had not realised how much she had missed the sounds until one had been made again. The bigger human must have felt the same as Bug saw her stand frozen. The smaller human made a noise and a gesture to the bigger human.

The bigger human stepped forward and sat next to the smaller human. The smaller human continued to gently press the white fields, and, after a few moments, the bigger human did too. The smaller human smiled at the bigger human and the bigger human smiled back. Bug smiled too. The sounds were back, and they brought smiles.

“Mama, I love our piano” the smaller human said.

Bug did not understand words but knew it felt like home.