The ant in the flood

The ant, tired, finally reached the place. But when she tried to touch the other side, a surprise: the stick was not long enough!
She was faded to be on the same side, and, soon, would be taken by the water.

Summary

The story begins when a fly goes to the house of an ant who lives in a rock in the middle of a river. The fly says there is a huge storm coming, and that to be safe the ant needs to go to a higher place. The only way to do that is reaching a higher rock, that stands besides the one the ant lives. The fly says that the ant will need to carry a long stick to get there.
The ant fastly takes the longest stick around and goes towards the other rock. In the middle of the way, however, it feels the stick is too heavy, and shortens it bit by bit.
Before she finally gets near the other rock, it starts to rain. In the border, the ant tries to reach the other rock, but the stick is too short. It then sees the water level rise slowly until the water finally reaches it.

Spread

The story is well known all over Talung and in some places of Melung. In some cases, the story may vary.

Variations & Mutation

One of the versions say the ant refused to take the stick because there was no water between the two rocks; the rain, however, separates the rocks and the ant isn't able to continue.
Other version talks about two ants, one who kept its stick whole and one who shortened it. The first took longer to reach the rock, but was prepared to continue.
There is also a version with three ants; two of them cooperate to carry a longer stick, while the other wants to save herself first and goes alone. The stick she carries, however, is not long enough.
The only controversial version, maybe, is the one in which the ant stands over the stick and waits for the water to raise it and take it to the higher rock.