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Description
Damien is your friend from your school days, with whom you still maintain good relations. You have been planning a trip together with Damien for some time. You have spent the last weeks looking for an interesting place for this trip. Among hundreds of blogs describing typical tourist destinations, Damien came across a strange niche blog describing a certain forest.

According to the blog's creator, the forest was supposed to be enchanted. The creator described that while walking through it he came across the sighns of strange creatures living in it. When Damien told you about this you both laughed and knew that these were probably just legends. Forest, however, was not far from the town where you lived, so you decided to take a trip. At worst, it would be just an ordinary trip into the woods, and you didn't have another place in mind anyway.

On the day of your departure, Damien came to pick you up right in the morning. You high-fived and chatted for a while before continuing on your way. The two of you hadn't seen each other for a while and you found Damien looking quite good, even more handsome than before. In addition, he hasn't abandoned his old style and dressed in black sweatpants and a black hoodie and red NMD Adidas for the trip.

When you arrived at your destination you thought to yourself that Damien was lucky that the weather was in your favor and he won't get his shoes wet. It hadn't rained for a few days and it was dry and warm, but not too warm. You dressed in trekking boots yourself, apparently you go on field trips more often than he does. Or perhaps you are more precautionary. Following the guidelines from the blog, you have established a route and set off into the field.

You had already walked for a good hour talking about what had been going on in your lives for the last while, but you didn't come across anything unusual. The forest seemed deserted. Nor did you encounter any other people. From time to time you saw only clusters of ants on the ground, which quickly fled when you approached them. No wild animals or unusual creatures.

- We might have expected it was all some urban legend. - Damien said disappointedly as they walked another hour through the woods. Bored, he kicked in front of him a stone found somewhere on the path.
- Yeah, we don't even know what we're looking for. The author of the blog didn't give any examples himself. - You responded by looking around. - That's how anyone can think of a mysterious forest.
- Besides, this - Damien pointed to small dots moving on the birches of the path you were walking. - It's full of these ants, there are probably more insects of some kind here, and there are probably ticks too. - Damien shook his shoulders as if a shiver went through him. - I hate ticks.

You walked for another half hour until you came across the perfect place for a break. Two stumps standing almost opposite each other even encouraged you to sit there and rest. You took out a thermos from your backpack and poured coffee into a mug and handed it to your colleague. Damien took a sip and handed the mug back to you.

- We should slowly turn around to get to the car in time. - Said your buddy.
- Yeah, it's about time. - You nodded.
- We have already walked more than 10 km, we will now do a loop around the other path - another 10 km and we will be there.
You nodded again. You took another sip of coffee and at that moment you noticed those strange ants again. You had the impression that a moment ago they weren't there. Earlier when you were walking they kept running away from you. Now, however, you had the feeling as if a few of them themselves had come to you.

You pointed to a few of them loitering near your shoes. Damien looked at them curiously.

- There are those ants again. - he said.
- Somehow these ants are so strange. Neither black nor red. What are the other types of ants? - You put down the thermos and grabbed the sandwiches. You handed one to your friend and started eating the other. of them.
- I don't know anything about ants. - Damien shrugged his shoulders. - But these ones are kind of strange and colorful.
- As long as they are on the ground they neither interest me nor bother me. But it's better to be careful that they don't get on our skin.
- Yeah. - Damien agreed. - You never know what diseases they can carry, or if they can bite.

You ate your sandwiches in silence and enjoyed the trees around you. The trip to the forest was great. Well, aside from the fact of the unfulfilled promise of adventure. It was a forest like any other, with no surprises. You knew well that no magical beings existed, but somewhere deep down you hoped that maybe it would turn out to be true after all and the mysterious blog wasn't lying. However, it seemed not.

After a while, you looked at the ground again. This time, there was already a whole bunch of ants near Damien's feet. Damien sat thoughtfully and did not realize it. You had the impression that the ants were practically clinging to him. They are already practically under his shoe and any moment now they will start climbing on his sole.

- Hey, Damien! - You said to get his attention. - Watch out, you've got plenty of those ants next to your feet.
- What the hell? - Damien got slightly upset. He lifted one of his feet up and shook it, dropping several of the creatures to the ground. Later he did the same with the other foot and the creatures fell down.
- You know what, I don't even know if they are ants anymore. They look so strange somehow. - Suddenly these creatures seemed really, really strange to you. - It's better not to take any chances and stay away from them.
- Bro, I have no idea, but they are starting to annoy me.- Damien raised his shoe up again and stopped it above the ground. - Look what they are doing, they are entering the place where I just held my foot. - Damien looked at them with disgust.
- It seems that they no longer have the instinct for self-preservation. - It seemed to you that one of the creatures went under the other of Damien's shoes on its own. Buddy focused on the other unknowingly trampled it a moment later. - One just went under your shoe and you squashed it. - You commented.
- Man, I really didn't want to hurt them, but I've had enough.

Saying this, Damien looked at the ground and stood up. Still holding his shoe in the air, he said to the creatures:

- I don't know why you came here, but I'm tired and I've had enough.

Damien sniffed his nose and then open his mouth and spat at the creatures gathering in front of him with distaste. Some of them fell down under his spit.

Damien stomped hard on the creatures standing under the sneaker crushing most of them in an instant. Some of them survived by fitting just inside the holes of the sole of the shoe. But this deliverance did not last long. Damien began alternately with one shoe and the other crushing more groups of creatures. Soon the soles of his shoes were getting dirty with a strange sticky red-colored smear. Then, with a twist, he moved his sneaker crushing those that survived under it. After a while, he looked down at the ground beneath his feet, where no more creatures were moving in the colorful slush.

- Heh, that was even cool. - Damien smirked.
- Yea. - You nodded. - It reminded me of how you used to trample ants after school when we went home. You made exactly the same movements with your feet to spread them on the sidewalk.
Damien laughs.
- You remember that? - He smiled and looked at his shoes. - It just puzzles me - he said, stepping down onto the grass. - Why did they have so much blood in them. I don't remember ants having so much of it. - He continued by moving his shoes back and forth on the grass. You shrugged. After a few moments his soles were almost clean. Damien looked at you and said: - Never mind, they're just ants. Who cares. We can go back now.

After a few hours you returned to the car satisfied with the trip. You never found out who those strange ants were, and the mystery of this forest remained unknown for a long time to come.

____________________________

AI Picture, Story by me.

Description
Damien is your friend from your school days, with whom you still maintain good relations. You have been planning a trip together with Damien for some time. You have spent the last weeks looking for an interesting place for this trip. Among hundreds of blogs describing typical tourist destinations, Damien came across a strange niche blog describing a certain forest.

According to the blog's creator, the forest was supposed to be enchanted. The creator described that while walking through it he came across the sighns of strange creatures living in it. When Damien told you about this you both laughed and knew that these were probably just legends. Forest, however, was not far from the town where you lived, so you decided to take a trip. At worst, it would be just an ordinary trip into the woods, and you didn't have another place in mind anyway.

On the day of your departure, Damien came to pick you up right in the morning. You high-fived and chatted for a while before continuing on your way. The two of you hadn't seen each other for a while and you found Damien looking quite good, even more handsome than before. In addition, he hasn't abandoned his old style and dressed in black sweatpants and a black hoodie and red NMD Adidas for the trip.

When you arrived at your destination you thought to yourself that Damien was lucky that the weather was in your favor and he won't get his shoes wet. It hadn't rained for a few days and it was dry and warm, but not too warm. You dressed in trekking boots yourself, apparently you go on field trips more often than he does. Or perhaps you are more precautionary. Following the guidelines from the blog, you have established a route and set off into the field.

You had already walked for a good hour talking about what had been going on in your lives for the last while, but you didn't come across anything unusual. The forest seemed deserted. Nor did you encounter any other people. From time to time you saw only clusters of ants on the ground, which quickly fled when you approached them. No wild animals or unusual creatures.

- We might have expected it was all some urban legend. - Damien said disappointedly as they walked another hour through the woods. Bored, he kicked in front of him a stone found somewhere on the path.
- Yeah, we don't even know what we're looking for. The author of the blog didn't give any examples himself. - You responded by looking around. - That's how anyone can think of a mysterious forest.
- Besides, this - Damien pointed to small dots moving on the birches of the path you were walking. - It's full of these ants, there are probably more insects of some kind here, and there are probably ticks too. - Damien shook his shoulders as if a shiver went through him. - I hate ticks.

You walked for another half hour until you came across the perfect place for a break. Two stumps standing almost opposite each other even encouraged you to sit there and rest. You took out a thermos from your backpack and poured coffee into a mug and handed it to your colleague. Damien took a sip and handed the mug back to you.

- We should slowly turn around to get to the car in time. - Said your buddy.
- Yeah, it's about time. - You nodded.
- We have already walked more than 10 km, we will now do a loop around the other path - another 10 km and we will be there.
You nodded again. You took another sip of coffee and at that moment you noticed those strange ants again. You had the impression that a moment ago they weren't there. Earlier when you were walking they kept running away from you. Now, however, you had the feeling as if a few of them themselves had come to you.

You pointed to a few of them loitering near your shoes. Damien looked at them curiously.

- There are those ants again. - he said.
- Somehow these ants are so strange. Neither black nor red. What are the other types of ants? - You put down the thermos and grabbed the sandwiches. You handed one to your friend and started eating the other. of them.
- I don't know anything about ants. - Damien shrugged his shoulders. - But these ones are kind of strange and colorful.
- As long as they are on the ground they neither interest me nor bother me. But it's better to be careful that they don't get on our skin.
- Yeah. - Damien agreed. - You never know what diseases they can carry, or if they can bite.

You ate your sandwiches in silence and enjoyed the trees around you. The trip to the forest was great. Well, aside from the fact of the unfulfilled promise of adventure. It was a forest like any other, with no surprises. You knew well that no magical beings existed, but somewhere deep down you hoped that maybe it would turn out to be true after all and the mysterious blog wasn't lying. However, it seemed not.

After a while, you looked at the ground again. This time, there was already a whole bunch of ants near Damien's feet. Damien sat thoughtfully and did not realize it. You had the impression that the ants were practically clinging to him. They are already practically under his shoe and any moment now they will start climbing on his sole.

- Hey, Damien! - You said to get his attention. - Watch out, you've got plenty of those ants next to your feet.
- What the hell? - Damien got slightly upset. He lifted one of his feet up and shook it, dropping several of the creatures to the ground. Later he did the same with the other foot and the creatures fell down.
- You know what, I don't even know if they are ants anymore. They look so strange somehow. - Suddenly these creatures seemed really, really strange to you. - It's better not to take any chances and stay away from them.
- Bro, I have no idea, but they are starting to annoy me.- Damien raised his shoe up again and stopped it above the ground. - Look what they are doing, they are entering the place where I just held my foot. - Damien looked at them with disgust.
- It seems that they no longer have the instinct for self-preservation. - It seemed to you that one of the creatures went under the other of Damien's shoes on its own. Buddy focused on the other unknowingly trampled it a moment later. - One just went under your shoe and you squashed it. - You commented.
- Man, I really didn't want to hurt them, but I've had enough.

Saying this, Damien looked at the ground and stood up. Still holding his shoe in the air, he said to the creatures:

- I don't know why you came here, but I'm tired and I've had enough.

Damien sniffed his nose and then open his mouth and spat at the creatures gathering in front of him with distaste. Some of them fell down under his spit.

Damien stomped hard on the creatures standing under the sneaker crushing most of them in an instant. Some of them survived by fitting just inside the holes of the sole of the shoe. But this deliverance did not last long. Damien began alternately with one shoe and the other crushing more groups of creatures. Soon the soles of his shoes were getting dirty with a strange sticky red-colored smear. Then, with a twist, he moved his sneaker crushing those that survived under it. After a while, he looked down at the ground beneath his feet, where no more creatures were moving in the colorful slush.

- Heh, that was even cool. - Damien smirked.
- Yea. - You nodded. - It reminded me of how you used to trample ants after school when we went home. You made exactly the same movements with your feet to spread them on the sidewalk.
Damien laughs.
- You remember that? - He smiled and looked at his shoes. - It just puzzles me - he said, stepping down onto the grass. - Why did they have so much blood in them. I don't remember ants having so much of it. - He continued by moving his shoes back and forth on the grass. You shrugged. After a few moments his soles were almost clean. Damien looked at you and said: - Never mind, they're just ants. Who cares. We can go back now.

After a few hours you returned to the car satisfied with the trip. You never found out who those strange ants were, and the mystery of this forest remained unknown for a long time to come.

____________________________

AI Picture, Story by me.