The crawlers look for food. They look for shelter. They look to compare themselves with other crawlers. They look to belong to groups of crawlers that think like they do so they can feel comfortable and right. They shun other crawlers who do not think like they do or look like they do. Crawlers make books they keep for thousands of years and hate those who have other equally old but different books.
From the air they look silly. Scrambling and scurrying about. From the air it is clear that they are afraid. They are afraid to look up. They are afraid that even though they are part of a group, they are alone. Their fear numbs them, and they forget that they are alive.
One in a hundred might look up before being beaten down by the others. One in a thousand might continue to look up in spite of being beaten down. And some of those -- just some -- realize they can leave the surface.
