The harvesters were tiny little ants. They all looked very much alike, but each ant was different. Some harvesters plucked seeds and some sorted seeds. Some of them dug seed storerooms, and others built the nest.
All summer long, the harvesters harvested seeds. In and out of the nest they marched.
Herbie was one of these little ants. One day, he climbed up a thin blade of grass to pluck the seed, but the plant curled under his weight.
“Humph” said Herbie, back on the ground. “Maybe I could just pluck the seeds from down here.”
He squinted and blinked but he could not see any seeds at the bottom of the plant. Herbie moved from plant to plant looking for seeds until he heard the other ants gathering to march back to the nest.
“Oh no,” said Herbie, “I didn’t find any seeds.”
“Don’t worry, Herbie! Come on! You can help carry these seeds back to the nest,” said another ant as he scurried past.
When Herbie saw all the ants waiting for him, he hurried to join them.
Back at the nest, Herbie decided to try sorting seeds.
“Good harvest today! Lots of seeds!” said the other ants.
“Oh, umm yes, I see,” said Herbie. But really, Herbie could not see; the seeds were very small and he was having a hard time sorting them.
“Maybe I need to have my eyes checked,” said Herbie. “I mean, these seeds are very small …I think I may be seeing double!”
“Herbie, my friend,” suggested another ant, “maybe you could try digging or building.” He continued, “There’s no need to worry, there is plenty that you can do to help.”
“Thanks! Good idea,” said Herbie, eagerly. “I will try digging!”
Herbie followed the tunnel into the nest. Many harvesters were working together in the tunnel. Some were digging and others were passing clumps of dirt from ant to ant.
Herbie quickly found a spot next to a digger. The digger was scooping out dirt enthusiastically and a huge mound of dirt was piling up beside him.
“Hey, I haven’t seen you here before,” said the digger.
“This is my first day digging!” said Herbie, excitedly.
“There’s nothing to it, my friend,” said the digger. “You just scoop out the dirt and move it aside, and then you scoop it and move it again. It’s good exercise! Just let me know if you need any help.”
Herbie tried to dig, but the dirt was very hard. Suddenly, a clump of dirt broke loose, covering Herbie. “Mmm, yes, I see what you mean,” said Herbie, coughing and brushing himself off.
“Why don’t you try passing the dirt out of the tunnel?” asked the digger.
Herbie was disappointed. “I think maybe I will just go outside and get some fresh air first,” he said, sadly.
Outside, Herbie saw harvesters carrying pebbles and grass cuttings to build the nest.
“Finally, this looks like something important that I could do to help!” said Herbie, and he rushed to join them.
Herbie stepped in line to take a pebble, but it was very heavy and he collapsed under the weight.
“Easy there,” said another ant, lifting the pebble off Herbie. “Why don’t you carry a blade of grass? Just hang on tight so it doesn’t blow away.”
Herbie took a blade of grass. As he began to march to the nest, the wind blew and Herbie lost it. He started to run after the blade of grass, but it floated away on the breeze.
“Let it go. It happens to everyone,” called another ant. “You’ll get it next time.”
“Ugh!” moaned Herbie, “I can’t even carry a little blade of grass!”
Discouraged, Herbie stopped trying to pluck, sort, dig, or build. He just hung around the nest watching all the other harvesters scurry around him.
“It’s not right,” he mumbled to himself. “There must be something important that I can do.”
Finally, for the first time, Herbie left the nest by himself. He marched out of the colony and right off the path!
Standing alone in the meadow, Herbie’s eyes widened at the size of everything. The grass was so tall he couldn’t reach the top, even on his tiptoes. Prickly pokeweeds made giant shadows on the ground. Big insects buzzed all around him. Suddenly, Herbie felt very small.
He felt a little better when he spotted another harvester. But when Herbie got closer, he saw that it was not a harvester after all. It was a spider.
“WOW!” said Herbie. “You must be very strong. I bet that you can pluck, sort, dig, and build faster than any harvester.”
“Of course!” said the spider.
“Maybe I could stay and help you,” said Herbie.
“Help me? How could a tiny little ant help me?” asked the spider.
Before Herbie could think of an answer, he heard his name. “Herbie?” someone called to him.
The voice was familiar. Herbie turned around to see another harvester.
“Herbie! How happy I am to see you! We have been looking everywhere for you. Come and let me have a look at you. Hmmm,” said the harvester as he looked at Herbie, “Looks like you are still in one piece. We were worried about you.”
“I didn’t mean to worry you,” said Herbie. “I really tried to pluck and sort. I tried my best to dig and build.”
“Oh, you don’t have to explain, Herbie. We all know how hard you worked.”
“You do?” asked Herbie, surprised.
“Of course!” said the harvester. “It’s not important how much work each ant can do alone; what’s important is that we work together! When we work together, every ant feels the strength of the whole group.”
Happily, Herbie marched right back on the path!
He followed the tunnel into the nest and quickly found a spot next to a digger.
“Hey, you came back!” said the digger.
“Yes,” smiled Herbie, “And I am feeling much stronger now!”