The Sweetness

We first felt the vibrations in the ground during our daily chores. Large heavy thumps that grew closer and shook the soil.Silt and stone fell from the roofs of our tunnels. Something was moving towards us.
We knew at once we had to assemble. We told each other we needed to organize ourselves, when the thumps suddenly stopped.
Just then, the light spilling in through the tunnel’s entranceway was gone. Upon inspection, it appeared to be a large cloth of some kind had been draped over the stones.
By then we could all smell The Sweetness. Hunger gnawed at us. Desire was inextinguishable.
We would all rise to the occasion and attack.
The soldiers snapped into action and scampered out to remove the shielding then tunneled escape pathways as the rest of us followed behind.
It was horrible. Two hideous giants - the likes we’d never seen - gorging themselves on The Sweetness.
There was such an incredible amount of The Sweetness that we thought they wouldn’t mind if we helped ourselves to some. We didn't think it was stealing. It wasn’t as though we were thieves, it’s just that we needed The Sweetness. We craved it.
We were certain that these disgustingly indulgent Goliaths shoveling The Sweetness into their mouths wouldn’t see us. It didn’t matter if they did, the sweetness was calling. Our brains were wired to devour The Sweetness.
The attack came quick. In trying to distract the giants, the soldiers climbed fleshy mountains, marched across shin ridges, kneecap pingoes, and created piggyback lifts between finger trenches, as myself and the others marched towards the sweetness.
As we worked in unison to try to carried a sliver of The Sweetness away, a giant’s hand blocked out the sun and came crashing down upon us. Unrelentingly we pursued as the giants stood and began to stomp upon us mercilessly.
We bit into The Sweetness as the soldiers bit into the giants. The giants flailed about snapping soldier’s bodies in two as they pluck them off their bodies.
We gobbled up as many crumbs of The Sweetness we could.
Upon our backs some carried away the dismembered soldiers to show how fierce we were in battle. The rest of us carried the largest morsel of The Sweetness we could back into our tunnels.
You might say the retreat of any invasion is the most important part of the battle. Our ability to prove ourselves as worthy individuals depends on what one had to offer.
I had a nice-sized chunk of The Sweetness that I was holding when I ran into someone from a different colony.
This was my chance, a rare and exciting moment that I personally thought was the best day of my life. Defeating such a foe from an enemy colony would be of the highest order and even the largest piece of The Sweetness would fall pale to such a feat. These were rivals that given the chance would destroy everything we held sacred and all that we stood for.
I had him cornered.

"Yo buddy, where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"I fell off a leaf," he said meekly.

"Tough luck."

It was then I saw the giants forage up what remained of The Sweetness and flee.
I dropped the piece of The Sweetness I was holding, pivoted and attacked.
Lunging forward, I ripped off the wings of my opponent insuring its death.
Others gazed at me with envy as I scampered back through the tunnels holding the wings of my enemy.
That’s what it really came down to. It wasn’t about how much of The Sweetness you had at the end of the day. It was about proving yourself to someone by conquering the opponents set out to destroy you. Showing yourself worthy and brave, altruistic and clever, and yeah sure, a bit romantic, that’s what it was all about. That was the quy who was going to mate with the queen.