A Silent Reconnaissance

I heard no boots. You told me six units had arrived to attack a blue soldier, so I stepped down from the drainage rim to inspect the tile corridor. I kept my shield locked tight against my chest. Six tiny black ants were marching along the grout line near my stone fort. I paused and watched them pass. None carried weapons, and none acknowledged my command. Past the gravel, an abandoned blue plastic clothespin lay flat in the shadows. I gripped my spear, marched forward five paces, and tapped the clothespin with the blunt ferrule. It did not return fire or shift position. I secured the blue object behind my pebble barricade. The perimeter remains quiet.