Coming Soon! When the gods are sleeping...

When the gods are sleeping excerpts...

The Bully...

"Hello! What do you mean by drawings?" Still holding the phone, Hus looked exhausted. It was written all over his face. He wiped his face and pinched his nose. It was clear he was struggling to keep his eyes open. The caffeine dosage he had had was fading away, exposing him to his limitations.

"Drawings? I don't understand". Attempts to get finer details were failing. Whoever, or whatever, was on the other end of the line was not giving out the details as Hus would have loved. He tried to probe but was not given a satisfactory response. "Look, I don't know what you are talking about. Maybe you're calling a wrong number", he said preparing to drop the receiver back in its socket. But his hesitancy was clear.

He decided to give the caller a few seconds with some faint hope that they were going to intersect. He looked in the wall as if reading something. He could have been reading something, only if there was something to read there. But there was nothing. The walls were still fresh having been completed a few weeks earlier. His was face was still pale and irritated. He didn't know who the caller was and why he was calling. His suggestion that it might have been a wrong number was rebuffed. The caller appeared to know what he was doing and whom he was calling. But the caller's insistence for drawings had disturbed him.

His phone had rung several times with no end. At first, he decided to ignore the call and concentrate on what he was working on - giving instructions to the new and inexperienced guys who had joined the team. He obviously thought the call was going to terminate naturally or the caller was going to end it after finding there was no answer on the other end of the line. But when neither happened, he was shocked. "What technology is this?" He thought quietly whilst wiping his tiny forelimbs. Upon picking his equally small gadget, he blew its screen, displacing some dust that had taken residence on the immaculate glass - typical of a construction site. His attempts to read the name or number of the caller were obstructed by the combination of the bright sunlight and the gadget's generously pixeled screen. For a moment his eyes were blighted and he lost vision. In fact, he did not lose it. Through his closed eyes, he could see a combination of blue and black and red patterns which were neither familiar nor peculiar. He knew what he was supposed to do immediately. Half running, half walking, he left for his office - just a few strides away from the site, but it took him longer. Still, the phone was ringing.

His surprise turned into a shock when he checked his little watch fastened on his left forelimb. It's been 3 minutes since the phone had started ringing. And it was still ringing. He pulled a little chair meant for only him from behind the desk and sat down but did not relax. He attempted to read the number displayed on the screen but failed. He did not fail to read the number, he failed to comprehend it. "Is this even a phone number", he sighed heavily whilst still glued to the screen. Yes, there were numbers on the screen but they were not ordinary numbers. Hus was literate enough to deduce that. They were displayed in a conical shape resembling a pinecone. He knew pinecones very well, having gone up and down pine trees. Some were littered under the pine trees all over waiting for a perfect time to release their seeds. He checked the phone again to verify if he had seen properly. And yes, it was still there - a perfect pinecone. This was his first encounter with such a bizarre display of telephone numbers. He couldn't establish where they were starting or ending, all he could see was a pinecone with its shells in place. All made up of numbers, Arabic numbers as they are known. At long last, he decided to swipe on the screen to terminate the call. Instead, to his surprise, he noticed the seconds counting on the screen and there was a voice speaking. The screen still displayed a pinecone.

The voice on the phone was rushy and almost inaudible like someone speaking through a cloth. He failed to place it. "Hus..." The caller had started in almost a hushed voice. "Yes... Who is my guest?" Hus had responded, faking stability and strength. "You'll know Hus; you will know soon enough. But let's clarify a few things. I am not your guest. You are my guest. And it's a pleasure hav..."

"Can you please speak loud; I can't hear you clearly". Hus interrupted the caller, albeit politely.

"Even if I speak like this... ", the voice spoke with a remarkable improvement in clarity, "... you will not place my voice... Face it, Hus, you don't know me. We have never met. You've never heard from me before..."

"It's not about that. I was straining my ears trying to listen. But now, it's much better. We can speak..." Hus feigned some confidence.

"Let's cut short the pleasantries. I know you're fine, so are your countless siblings and offspring. We know thousands are being born as we speak. Isn't it, Hus?"

"Stop insulting my family, please! Just say whatever you want or else I'll terminate this call and blacklist your number..." Hus made his frustrations known to whoever was on the other end.

"Hahaha Hus", the voice laughed annoyingly. "I know you even attempted terminating this call before answering it but did you succeed? Hus my boy! You are not in control, I am. You noticed how my number is displayed on your tiny phone? I bet that's your first time of seeing such number notation..." The voice said in a bragging tone.

"Alright, you won. Who are you and what do you want from me?" Hus had decided to play along with the hope that the caller was going to volunteer his identity but that was not to be.

"That's my boy... Now listen carefully. Who am I? Forget that question because you won't get answers for it... Let's talk about what I want..."

There was some silence as Hus was digesting what was just said. He then decided to record the call for future reference, he told himself. He breathed heavily before saying," Yes... “

“I know what you are doing Hus... You're recording this call. But it doesn't matter because when we are done with this call, there won't be any playback or anything. It will be gone, everything! Just thought I should save you from a potential heart attack..."

"Whatever you want, say it! “

“Getting some guts now, huh? Tell you what? I love it!!“Hus could hear the caller laughing and hitting what sounded like a desk.

Then suddenly the voice spoke again," Hus I know you're at a new construction site, doing another structure. Brilliant! I envy your hard work. I wish my kith and kin could do the same. You work ethic is amazing. I see you every day. In fact, I watch you."

"Thank you for the compliments but is that why you called? I have so many tasks waiting for me onsite..."

"You see why I love you guys? Anyway, Hus, I need some drawings of what you guys are constructing... I need those ones!"

Hus had tried to think of what was meant by drawings. He couldn't figure it out. Was it a code? He thought whilst pushing his mind to think. But he couldn't trigger it to think about drawings. He had never worked with them. Neither his father nor grandfather nor great grandfather, all of whom he had seen, had introduced him to 'drawings'. When he was old enough, he left the mansion his father had built, wandering to the east. He found friends and decided to build their own mansion, with a different design. They all agreed on what they were going to do but he was sure there were no drawings nor was there any need for them.

"Hus, don't think too hard boy!" He was interrupted. "What you're building right now, I want drawings for it. We want to do the same thing here... We know it is a self-reliant structure; no need for energy from outside, inbuilt thermoregulation and heating and cooking systems, eco-friendly and sustainable, zero waste, hundred per cent biodegradable, no recalcitrant and synthetic materials on that structure... I want its drawings and BOQ Hus, am serious", the voice spoke, this time sounding serious and genuine.

Then something dawned on Hus. He moved his mandibles in a smiling gesture and stretched all other appendages of his, making a faint noise. "Are you human?" Hus requested to know. "I said what I am doesn't matter". "With all respect, it matters, Sir. Now listen, we don't do drawings, we just build. We follow whatever is coded in our DNA. We work as a unit, as a team with no conflicts. We don't fight our own nor burn each other like you humans. We live in peace and dream together. Even if we had drawings, you were still going to fail to reproduce it because you're so divided. You were given dominion on earth but you abuse everything and everyone. I am sorry human, you're the author of your own demise, and you're dragging everyone with you. You're polluting waters and the air and heating the globe and contaminating the soil and now you want to build like us so you build anthills like us, and run away from the problems you have caused? No human, stay there and face it." Hus felt proud, having released all his bitterness about humans. He just remembered something to say again,"... Why can't you get inspiration from that pinecone? Huh? You only know of... Hello! Hello? Helloooo?" The line was dead. He checked on the screen, the pinecone was gone. The line was disengaged. He sighed and wiped some sweat. "Will he call again?", he asked no one and expected no one to respond. As he walked out of his office back to the site, he was welcomed by a deafening applause. Everyone, every ant, in the compound was waiting for him. They applauded him for standing up to humans and condemn their bullish deeds, confirming they had been eavesdropping his conversation. It didn't matter to him though. He grinned and waved whilst his thorax was pouncing with excitement. "Let's just get back to work...", he announced!