The Hive

Chuck has us talking about Invasions this week - seeing his book 'Invasive' is out in paperback now. So, I thought to do a Flash Fiction about a huge paper wasp nest I have in my yard... but not from the POV you'd think!

enjoy.

We had to go somewhere; and the trees were no option.

We were kicked out of our last place a month ago.

The pipe wasn’t too bad and we had to build the nursery somewhere close to warmth but under cover as well – and this was perfect.

Nobody was going to bother use; and yet, we were up high enough to not ... who is that?

“Guard!” she shrieked.

“Yes, your Majesty?” I asked approached by her side, looking where she was from her chamber.

“Exactly what is that?” she demanded pointing.

“I am not sure. Do you wish for me to inspect?”

“Yes.”

I took another guard with me, just in case things became complicated. I gave specific orders to inspect, not attack. We were out of the main entrance within seconds and flying down to the intruder who had shown up in the grounds of our new place.  They turned and stopped in their tracks, watching us carefully as we watched them.

“Oh, hello there.”  A female voice was soft, yet nervous. She stayed still as we circumnavigated her; finding she was no threat, we didn’t do anything to make her move away from the place. Slowly, she looked up at where we lived, where our Queen lived, then started to walk away from us.

“Let’s follow her at a distance. I want to know where she came from.” I said.

“Then we attack!” the guard snorted.

“No!” I stopped him, “I was given strict orders to not interfere with this one – to observe and see who it is. We could be living in her place – not the other way around.”

“We are superior to all!” the other guard buzzed loudly.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the fence, running him through, killing him; my last words to him: “We are not superior to all. We obey our Queen, and I am your superior.” I dropped him amongst the grass and left him to rot.

Looking over at the female, I noticed she had come back into the area with something in her hands. She raised it up, tapped a large ... oh, she took a photograph. I have seen this before. Humans are fascinated with these objects and love taking photographs of themselves – but not this one. She took a photo of... I must get back to inform the Queen!

“She took a photograph of where we were instead of herself? What kind of Human are we looking at?” she asked, “And where is the other guard?”

“I am afraid I had to use force to stop him from attacking her.” I said, “She posed no danger to us; and yet he wished to harm her, Your Majesty.”

“I see. You protected her because you felt it wasn’t right to harm a Human?”

“When we approached, she stood still and let us look at her. She looked at us and was nervous, and didn’t swat at us like other Humans have.” I replied, “I do not think we will be having problems with her. However, I’d like to go and see why she is here. She seems to be around here a lot.”

“Very well. You may.”

I turned and left my Queen’s chamber – alone this time – and ventured outside into the warmth of the day where the Human was in the garden again.

This time, I watched her from a distance.

She didn’t do anything unusual.

She cared for the garden.

She pulled the weeds and mowed the lawn, then took a photograph of her flowers and plants.

Then, she walked into a wall. 

This seemed unusual until I inspected further and found she had walked through a large door and inside a place. I looked through the window and found she lived here in this large clay hive we had thought was abandoned.

I reported my findings back to my Queen immediately.

“I see.” She finished what she was eating and sat back; the stew prepared by the staff left for a moment, “So, somebody lives in the place we thought was abandoned?”

“I don’t think she minds us being here. She seems...”

“Seems?” my Queen glared at me. I was in trouble for judging somebody who was not one of us, “Did you inspect her living quarters?”

“Yes, my Queen. I peered through the windows, and she has lived in the clay structure for some time.”

My Queen went back to her stew, “Well, what do you think we should do?”

“If we are not annoying her – and she is not bothering us – nothing. I think it wise that we can both live with each other in this space without destroying each other’s peace.” I suggested.

Pushing her bowl away, she dabbed at her mouth, and sat back, “So do I. But do keep guard on her at times as the seasons change; and it becomes cooler.”

“Of course.” I bowed, “We are much more vulnerable in the colder seasons; but I doubt she will do anything to jeopardise the peace between us – unless you wish her to sign a treaty?”

She rose from her table and walked to the window where the Human was placing a solar-powered light inside a potted plant. My Queen’s features softened as she turned, “No. I think you are right. She will not harm us, not until we are finished here.”

“Very well, my Queen.” I bowed low, “Do we need supplies for the nursery?”

Sitting, she sighed, “Always!”

I left by the main entrance, taking a few workers with me to collect more food for the colony. It was time we stocked up for Winter; and from what I’ve heard through the walls around here, we are building another wing onto the new nursery to the western side.

Yes, we needed more food before the seasons turned bitterly cold – much more food now the hive was growing bigger. But seeing a bird or two had begun to destroy some of our home, it was also time we started looking for another place to live.

This was part of my job as well.

But I must say, this was the best place we’d been for a long time.

The Human was nice.

The food around the place was plentiful.

The weather wasn’t too bad.

And the view was perfect from the drainpipe.