*Note to the Reader; Birthday Stories are exactly what they sound like, stories that are created and gifted to family and friends. They are short works of fiction in the raw, no copy edits, kind of like live theatre, what you see is straight from my imagination to you, pure, simple and honest and yeah, sometimes a bit weird - I hope you enjoy. RB
It was early morning but it could just as easily have been mid day. The hot dry weather that began mid April was now in its sixteenth consecutive week and was showing no signs of letting up. The extreme temperatures were being blamed on climate change by some, while others simply scoffed saying it was like this back in '54.
Meanwhile a small group had come together and was busy handcuffing themselves to the
King Orry & King Olaf sculpture outside the Ramsey courthouse in protest to the governments high altitude balloons. The spokespersons for the group, Alison Bree and Jade Adamson claim the balloons were part of a G7 experiment to control weather which had inadvertently let in aliens.
They were close, no aliens and not intended to control weather but the balloons are the defining hopes for a team of Edinburgh science students to make a super hive for bees. The idea is that the balloons become mass hives for billions of bees. The low oxygen and higher radiation levels would naturally modify the bees at a cellular level giving them a higher tolerance to pesticides.
Three weeks after the balloons appeared, Sara was on an errand downtown. The heat seemed to be lifting up out of the pavement testing the resilience of the road and the patience of everyone in town.
While pushing her way across a crowded intersection she felt a stabbing pain in her neck. Two others screamed out simultaneously, resulting in a small stampede and a punch in the face to a woman in a motarized scooter that had run over Sara's foot.
Reports of aggressive bees began to infuse Ramsey's daily conversations and yet there seemed to be a collective acceptance and calmness as each day passed. Instead of people reacting with hostility to the bees people started group chats on how to protect the bees and organized bake sales in order to buy flowers that were to be planted in a hundred acre field donated by several local farmers.
Sara had no interest, in fact since the bee sting she had lost all ambition to even leave the house wanting nothing more than to just lay in bed.
A few days before her birthday Norberto knocked on their bedroom door.
"Sara - you okay?" He spoke quietly with his ear pressed to the door, listening for a response.
"I'm not ready yet."came a muffled reply.
"Not ready? What does that mean."
Norberto placed his hand on the door knob and tried to turn it but it wouldnt move.
Locked.
"NOT READY!" She yelled.
He shrugged and went downstairs to find the front door open.
"Hello" he asked cautiously before seeing a stack of cardboard boxes sitting on the step.
A kid about 18 with a half formed goatee was on his way back from the truck.
"We didn't order any of this," Norberto cried, his voice strained with emotion.
"Well someone did, besides I have no choice. I have a dozen other deliveries after your order." said the blond boy reassuringly reaching the front step again, "and it blocks the entire back end of the truck." He stated with finality.
With that he pushed the top of the dolly forward releasing the second stack of boxes and was already stomping away holding up his clipboard saying something about 4 more.
Norberto held his arms raised in a sort of symbolic religious gesture.
Sara suddenly appeared over his shoulder beaming.
"They're here," she clapped.
He jumped in his spot, startled but the full understanding of what was happening washed over him.
Sara was already chugging back the nectar from one bottle of Rybena while reaching her free hand into the open box to lift out two more before racing back up the stairs.
Sighing, Norberto took a sip from one of the bottles when he noticed an odd stamp on the top of the open cardboard flap. He leaned closer to read it; TEST SITE 'C'
He said nothing but his lips moved with his thoughts.
What the fuck?
Then suddenly he fell to his knees convulsing holding up his hand in the air before he exploded into a thousand identical bee sized pieces, each one zooming off to collect nector from the newly planted flowers.
One by one, the citizens of Ramsey began to explode, each one taking flight a thousand times over. The sky blackened, two thin pencil lines stretched across the horizon. One going away from town and the other heading back to their new queen.
Sara opened the windows and crawled back into bed listening to the oncoming hum.
In the distance a radio crackled to life, "Bravo 6 the hive is ready"
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