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PPP-1 The Book Chapter Eleven |
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STUCK!!!
The ants had been on the ground for hours. The night had been cold and they couldn't sleep well. There were a lot of new night noises that had kept them awake. Some of the younger ants had been very frightened, even down right scared! Wise-ant spent the night awake with the scared ones helping them through this new experience. Wise-ant related story after story about scary things that he had been involved with. He also pointed out that even though the younger ants were now scared of the darkness and new night noises, they had performed extremely well on this journey and had excelled in the joint teamwork that had been necessary to fly the PPP-1 to its limits in order to save, not only themselves, but all the others involved in the adventure. The younger ants soon forgot about being scared as they told their own stories back and forth to each other. Wise-ant half dozed as he listened to the recent adventures that he to had just been through and was proud to be associated with this group. He to had been scared, but, he knew that being scared his a normal thing and that it had helped him make some of the hard decisions that were required of him. It wasn't long before everybody was sound asleep, huddled for warmth on the wings of the old faithful PPP-1, awaiting a new day; a new flight; a new adventure. Everyone was awake with the first rays of the sun. They had thumped him very late last night, it had been dark and all they did was hold on as the PPP-1 came to an abrupt stop. Now they could see where they were, tall Grass, flat ground with tall trees surrounding them; they were stuck! They needed to get back in the air but there was nowhere to re-launch from. Wise-ant called a meeting of the minds to figure a way out of this predicament. Of course during the first stages of a problem solving session the ridiculous plans came first; "build some rocket Motors" called out the youngest, yet most creative ant. "Attach the PPP-1 to the top of a small tree, wait for it to grow then launch from there" sang out another. Wise-ant listened patiently knowing that a plan would soon evolve with all these minds working together. Speck was the one that started the thinking to go in the right direction, "tow launch", was all he said quietly. Speck was still shy around the group and had hesitated for quite a while before he uttered those words. The group fell silent for a moment taking in what Speck had just said. The excitement soon raged through all. It was decided that Speck would spin one of his best webs to be used for the towline and the hero-to-be got started. Several hours later Speck had fabricated one of his finest strands of web about 30 feet long and even though it was almost invisible, it was the strongest he had ever made. The thermal hour was approaching and the ants jumped into action. If they were going to fly out of this mess they had to hurry. With one end of the web firmly attached to the nose of the PPP-1, the ants worked together and pulled the web line tight. The ants still had a small piece of hot dog bun left over and after considerable struggling had moved it into position. Speck went to work again and attached is web to the hot dog of then ran as fast as he could back to the PPP-1. The launch could happen anytime now and it was critical that all passengers were on board and prepared for flight. The atmosphere on board the PPP-1 was tense, no one spoke, they all just held on and waited. All eyes were on the piece of hot dog bun, the bait. Silence turned to soft moans of disappointment as they all watched a small tweedy bird flit down, landing next to the bun. They all knew that the small bird didn't have the strength to pull the PPP-1 high into the sky. They all watched in disbelief as the small bird started pecking at the bun bait. If that little bird ate the bait then it was back to the drawing board. With all eyes on the little bird and the bait, no one saw the crow coming in hot and low from behind them. Buzzing the PPP-1, the loud whistle of wind through feathers was deafening as the crow dove on the little bird with the bait. All the ants watched in awe as the small bird barely got out of the way of the crow, who picked up the bait without even slowing down. The sudden 'g' loading took the ants by surprise as they all started sliding off the back of the plane even though they were holding on. Speck seeing and feeling what was happening shot some restraining web all over the wings saving the ants from being thrown off the plane. The PPP-1 rocketed into the sky being towed unknowingly by the crow. The PPP-1 was out of control in a high-speed barrel roll! Wise-ant, resisting the 'g' forces called out the flight commands to stabilize the rolling PPP-1 and the crew responded. Now in level flight and climbing Wise-ant told Speck to be ready to sever the towline. Wise-ant had no idea where the crow was going to take them but he knew that they had to milk as much altitude out of this tow as possible. At only 150 feet above the ground Wise-ant felt the familiar bump of a small but powerful thermal. "Now Speck, NOW!!" Yelled Wise-ant. Speck instantly severed the line and the plane stalled, falling off to the left in a dive. Wise-ant's orders flew like Bullets from a machine gun, "roll right; nose down; full flaps; left rudder...!" Soon the plane was stabilized in a high-banked turn, Centered in the thermal and going up fast! The higher they got the bigger the thermal became. Now, again way high in the sky the bank angle reduced and the Earth getting small, the ants had a chance to relax. Speck breathed a sigh of relief and was taken by surprise when all the ants started chanting, "Speck-Speck-Speck...” He had become the hero for the day and was made an honorary ant by the group. Speck had found a home; he had the most important thing in the world, FRIENDS WHO CARED!
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