After a drone bee mates, it quickly dies as its abdomen is ripped open when its endophallus is removed. What a gruesome way to die. I’ve met plenty of people who’d do anything to get some. But even for them, they’re probably not desperate enough to still do it when death is guaranteed.

During a mating flight, a queen will mate with a dozen or more drones and with all of them dropping dead shortly after, the path of her flight leaves a visible mark on the earth. It’s quite an impressive power move when you think about it. Sadly for this queen, she’s going to need to find some other drones and remove their endophallus because mine isn’t for sale!

Flying off with no warning, I speed away from the hive. Zipping between foliage and branches, I realize how much faster I’m flying compared to when I was running away from Gray Blur. My speed has more than doubled, there’s no way I’ll be caught now.

With an endless supply of courage, I fly higher than ever before as I start zooming towards the canopy. I’ll get out of sight and then I’m off to roam the world as a vagrant drone. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to find another hive and waltz right in and take some honey and leave while they’re none the wiser. My daydreams of living life as a honey bandit distract me long enough to not notice just how much brighter my abdomen is glowing.

In fact I didn’t notice how my once dim glow became bright enough to start casting shadows of nearby branches until a peal of laughter sounded in my mind. The queen overtakes me immediately after, generating enough air pressure to cause my tiny body to spiral in the air. Disoriented, I crash into the now hovering queen causing us to plummet.

Vigourous flaps of her wings stabilize our trajectory, without even being able to contemplate how or why I grabbed onto the queen, pulses of a burning pain, strong enough to incapacitate me, erupt from my abdomen. Finally, I notice how my abdomen is now like a tiny lightbulb.

My burning abdomen sends my mind into a haze, leaving me without enough strength to even remove myself from the queen. The glowing, geometric shapes on my abdomen start crushing inwards, removing most of the air inside me. It seems even my body doesn’t want me to survive.

Despite my stubborn will, my body continues to disobey and begins mating with the queen. The initial satisfaction that filled my body as I mate with the queen is soon turned into misery. Wave after wave of fatigue fills my body repeatedly as the insatiable queen won’t let me die until her oviducts are filled. The job of at least a dozen drones is placed solely upon me.

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My once sun-like abdomen quickly dims from the queen’s abuse. The queen’s unforgiving grip doesn’t ease up until my abdomen dims to the point the geometric shapes are no longer visible. Along with the death of the only visible thing unique about me, soon my death comes too.

Crashing into the ground, the last thing I see is the uncaring queen returning in the hive’s direction. My body’s goal has been completed and control is returned to me once more. Except, there’s nothing left to control. Completely depleted of strength and energy, all I can do is stare up at the sky as I die like a bug under the sun’s intense heat.

It’s possible my crazy drive to learn how to fly wasn’t completely a decision of my own. I never thought about it before, but if I can’t fly then I can’t mate. In that case I could’ve just stayed in the hive and been fed by nursery workers until they kicked me out in the Autumn.

The disappearance of the source of my abdomen’s glow seems to have cleared up my mind. All I can think about is how rigged this was. My actions were almost never completely my own. From learning how to fly to seemingly accepting a premature death at the hands of Gray Blur before being saved by a predatory bird’s actions.

Originally I thought my quest to fly was fueled by my boyhood dream of flying, but with how worried I was about mating with the queen, I could’ve just stayed in the hive until she had mated with other drones. Then I could learn how to fly. After all, we can’t mate if I can’t fly. Guaranteed survival.

Then there’s my acceptance of Gray Blur eating me. Even if I accepted my death, I wouldn’t have just stood there. I would’ve instead still tried to get away no matter how futile my struggle would have been. Even if I didn’t choose to continue to flee, I’d still try to do as much harm on Gray Blur as possible. I could always try to ram myself into their eyes in an attempt to blind them. But to just stand there and accept my fate? Very unlikely.

As I continue examining all my choices during the short few days I’ve been a bee, I’m suddenly aware of how I still haven’t died. Using my legs to the best of my ability to feel my abdomen, I finally notice that I’m fully intact. There isn’t a single injury on me! The only evidence of my near death is my heavily fatigued body.

Slowly getting up, I’m filled with relief at my continued existence. Split between continuing with my plan of running away or going back to the hive to eat and rest, I have no choice but to head back to the hive. I don’t have the energy to run away any time soon. I also desperately need some food.

Flying back to the hive with a similar speed as my mating flight, it seems despite the disappearance of my glow, the speed boost is permanent.

Returning to the hive, the hero’s welcome I secretly anticipated doesn’t happen. The workers continue their day with the same indifference they usually have towards me. Welp, my survival is the most important.

Crawling through the hive’s interior is even more difficult without my slight glow. Taking longer than normal, I finally reach the part of the hive with the highest number of nursery bees. A nursery worker seemingly notices my fatigue and quickly begins feeding me. My exhaustion is eased a bit and I make my way to a remote spot to sleep.

You know, this place isn’t so bad.