Written & Illustrated by: Laurie Trotman

Timmy is an ant, but he’s not your everyday ant that just moves sand from here to there. He’s an ant that loves to go exploring; meet new creatures, and try new things. These are things that most ants would never do, but Timmy is not afraid to try anything.

Today, he had the chance to try something really exciting! Timmy was going skydiving. Do you know what skydiving is? First, you go up in an airplane with a parachute strapped to you.

A parachute is a cloth that fills with air so that you can float slowly down from high places. Most of them are very colorful like balloons. They can be rectangular or round.

Some you can steer and some you can’t. Next, when the airplane gets high enough…you JUMP out of the plane! On your way down, you pull this cord that is attached to the pack on your back, and the beautiful parachute opens, fills with air, and then you start floating down to the ground.

Most people are afraid to try this, and most ants NEVER get the chance! Today, Timmy was going to try it with his friend, Dante.

Dante’s grandfather, Gill-the-pilot, was going to take Dante and Timmy up in the plane so they could skydive. Dante’s grandmother, Lolly, made a parachute pack for Dante and one for Timmy.

Dante’s pack was bright blue, and inside was a parachute that was orange and turquoise. Dante said that he called it ‘aquamarine’ because it was like his favorite character, Aquaman!

The parachute pack that Lolly made for Timmy was much smaller and was red. Inside was a blue and green parachute.

Dante picked up Timmy early one morning at the anthill. Timmy climbed up onto Dante’s hand, but before they could leave,

Queen Sally hollered up to Dante saying, “Please take good care of Timmy today!”

Dante promised and off he ran back to his house where Gill-the-pilot, was waiting to take them to the airport.

As they climbed into the car, they saw the beautiful parachute packs that Lolly had made. This made them more excited to try them on.

When they finally arrived at the airport, they put their packs on. Dante also wore a helmet and goggles, but Timmy didn’t need to because only humans had to do that.

Then Dante carried Timmy while they walked over to the plane with Gill-the-pilot. The plane was a beautiful red plane and it had the name ‘Red Baron’ on it.

Gill-the-pilot said that he named it that because it was red and he had a favorite song, when he was a kid, about a German pilot that was called the ‘Red Baron.’

They all climbed into the airplane, buckled their seat belts, and Gill-the-pilot started the engine. Soon they were moving down the runway getting faster, faster, and faster! Then, they were flying! Up, up, up they went! Timmy was looking out the window and his eyes were big and wide as he watched the ground get farther and farther away.

“OK,” yelled Gill-the-pilot, “time to jump!”

“Are you ready Timmy?” Dante asked.

“I think so,” Timmy answered, even though he was very nervous.

“Just remember, as soon as you jump, pull your cord to open your parachute,” Dante reminded Timmy. “See you in the air!” he smiled. “Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll come to find you on the ground as soon as we land!”

Dante opened the plane’s door. Timmy took a deep breath and…JUMPED!

He seemed to be falling very fast, which was extremely scary, but as he pulled his cord, out came the beautiful blue and green parachute! He then started floating slowly downward.

He looked around and saw Dante’s orange and aquamarine parachute floating nearby.

They both started looking all around as they floated. They could see for miles and miles. They saw lakes, trees, and buildings in the city. As they got closer to the ground, Timmy saw Dante point to a giant ‘X’ on the ground. Dante had explained earlier to Timmy to use the handles on his parachute to steer. When you pull on them it helps you to steer and helps you to land where you want to land.

Today they were supposed to land on the giant ‘X’.

Timmy tried his best and he landed close to the ‘X’ but Dante landed right on top of it! Timmy knew that he needed more practice to be as good as Dante. Dante gathered up his parachute and then ran over to help Timmy.

“Wasn’t that amazing?” Dante asked Timmy.

“Wow, it was awesome! We were so high! I was falling fast and then floating! It was scary and exciting all at the same time! I’ll bet no other ant in the world has EVER done this before!” Timmy said, without taking a breath.

I’m sure that Timmy was correct about that. Dante picked him up and carried him over to the car where Gill-the-pilot was waiting for them. Gill-the-pilot had landed the plane and driven to the ‘X’ earlier to pick them up. As they rode home, Dante and Timmy were telling Gill-the-pilot about all the things they had seen while they floated down.

When they arrived home, Dante showed Timmy how to fold his parachute and put it back into his pack so that it would be ready for next time.

Next time?

Timmy couldn’t wait!