Twilight of the Yellow Jacket
TWILIGHT OF THE YELLOW JACKET By: Dallas G. Releford “Where are the kids?” Dr. Khan asked his wife as he put his briefcase on the floor by the kitchen table. While he stood there waiting for an answer, he wondered if they would get used to living in the country. It was so much different than Cleveland with all the noise, pollution and violence. “They’re down by the lake playing,” she said. “I told them not to get too close to the water. The last time I looked, they were chasing something in the meadow near the woods. I think it was a butterfly but I’m not sure.” “Well --- we’ll have to keep a sharp eye on them. There are rattlesnakes, copperheads and dangerous bees in this area. They say that as long as you keep the grass cut short that snakes won’t usually come around but I wouldn’t depend on that. I’ve instructed the kids not to go into the woods but I wouldn’t depend on that either.” “I know,” Mrs. Khan agreed, “they both are at that age where they’re just naturally curious about everything. I think they already love the country. Myra just kept talking about the little people and about how she would like to be a bee and just lick the nectar from the flowers all day long. Rameez likes to catch the frogs but I told him to stay away from the water.” “What about the little people? What is that all about?” Dr. Khan asked taking his seat at the table. “Myra said that she saw some little people that fly through the meadows and the forest. Rameez said that they were only fairies. He said that he had seen them too but I suppose that they are seeing hummingbirds or something of that nature. Mr. Collins, our neighbor told them that if you catch one of the fairies that they will grant you any wish that you might desire in return for their freedom. The kids believed him. Of course, he winked at me and I knew that he was just fooling with them.” “Well --- yes of course,” Dr. Khan said. “As you already know, I’m leaving for Columbus tonight for a few days. Why aren’t the kids here for dinner? I was looking forward to seeing them before I leave.” “They’ll be here,” his wife answered. “I just yelled and told them that dinner was ready a few moments before you arrived.” “Good,” he replied, “and with a little luck and good fortune, I should only be gone about a week. I hate to be away from my family but there are some new drugs and procedures that I have to get updated on. I’m also taking a computer course to learn about the new medical database they installed at the office. Do you think that you can handle things around here while I’m gone?” “Of course,” she said, “and I have your number there and you have your cell phone. After all, you won’t be that far away in case I need you.” “True,” he agreed. “If you need anything, all you have to do is to call. I’ll be checking back every day anyway.” The next couple of days went by without any problems but Myra began to have nightmares about the little people and Mrs. Khan was worried about her loss of sleep. The situation became worse until she let Myra sleep with her. Myra rested peacefully while she was with her mother. In the late autumn sunlight, Myra and Rameez enjoyed their new environment exploring every tree, bush, animal and insect as if it were something new and unique. To the two children, the world was an exciting playground that offered them an endless assortment of things to explore. “Wouldn’t it be nice to be a butterfly or maybe even a honey bee?” Myra asked. “Not for me,” Remeez replied boldly. “I’m just happy to be what I am. But if I could be anything besides myself, I guess I’d rather sit on a Lilly Pad croaking all day and all night.” “Why that’s silly Rameez,” Myra suggested to him. “Why, I can’t even imagine all that nasty pond water and having to eat bugs. UGH!” “It’s not as bad as being a bee and having to land on ten thousand flowers every day.” Rameez told her plucking a daisy from the ground just as a bee started to land on it. He held it up examining the white and yellow flower wondering what being a bee would really be like. Growing disinterested in a few seconds, he dropped the flower to the ground. “Say, maybe we can catch a fairy and make it grant us a wish and that way, we can be just whatever it is that we want to be.” Myra suggested hopefully. “Okay, fine and I agree but I think that we should get started right away,” Rameez said. “I’ll run to the house and get my butterfly net and something for us to drink. You stay right here Myra and don’t you move. Don’t go anywhere and don’t do anything until I get back. Do you promise to do that for me?” “Yes of course Rameez, but hurry because it’ll get dark after a little bit and I want to catch a fairy before dark.” “You’ll get your fairy,” Rameez promised as he headed off running toward the house on the hill. Myra couldn’t wait for Rameez to return so she started looking behind trees, under rocks and even under the huge leaves of the plants. She wasn’t sure just where fairies hid or where their homes were but she was determined not to leave any stones unturned until she found out what she wanted to know. After some time had passed, she sat down under a huge Oak tree and fell to sleep. The buzzing of a bee near her ear interrupted her deep sleep. Myra opened her eyes. A small figure with thin, glassy wings hovered in front of her. At first, she thought that it was a humming bird but when she was fully awake, she saw that it was a little girl with a tiny pale green dress. “Are you a fairy?” She asked not quite believing her eyes or her good fortune. The little creature only continued to make a buzzing sound that was similar to a bee. “Oh, please answer me little person. Are you a fairy? I really love fairies and all living things especially small, beautiful living things. Can we be friends and do things together?” The little blonde fairy with the short hair, extravagant personality and petite figure watched her every move as it hung steadily in the air in front of Myra just like a humming bird in front of a flower. Myra held out her hand with the palm upturned as an invitation for the fairy to land on her hand. “Please let me hold you,” she pleaded, “because you are so beautiful, just like my little doll and I love my dolls.” The little creature seemed to sense the emotional stress of the little human girl and fluttered ever closer to her. Myra began to cry as she pleaded with the fairy not to leave her. Reaching down with her right hand, she picked a daisy and held it up for the little creature to see hoping that she would be attracted to it. Curious, the fairy grew closer to the flower. She inspected it carefully but when she became disinterested, she turned her compassionate attention to the little girls tears. Fairies were happy people and she couldn’t comprehend the exact meaning of the tears in Myra’s eyes. The one thing she did understand was human emotions because she could somehow feel them. She drew closer carefully observing the streams of liquid emanating from the little girl’s eyes. In one swift, well-calculated move, Myra dropped the white and yellow flower. Her small fingers quickly wrapped around the waist of the fairy’s body just as the daisy hit the ground. “You’re mine now, forever and forever,” Myra proclaimed proudly. The little creature struggled to free herself but the ironclad grip of the little girl was way too much for her. A honeybee landed on a patch of flowers near her and Myra saw it out of the corner of her eye. She thought that it was another fairy at first but when her eyes fully focused on it, she realized what it was. A nasty Yellow Jacket, attracted by the tears in Myra’s eyes and on her face buzzed her a couple of times and almost caused her to drop the tiny body from her hand. “Sorry,” Myra apologized, “I almost squeezed you too hard. I’m truly sorry about that. I’ll have to be more careful from now on so don’t you worry any at all. I know you can grant wishes and my wish is to be a bee just like that one over there.” She pointed at the honeybee that was busy moving from flower to flower. “I know you understand me and I’ll let you go if you will grant my wish but you must promise to turn me back into a human after one hour. Have you got that now? Do you understand me? One hour, okay?” Things happened very quickly and the next thing Myra realized was that everything looked different, felt different and was different. Her sense of smell had been magnified several times and her vision had changed in a way that she couldn’t understand. Almost instantly, she became aware of her ability to fly and there was something else that she had never felt before. Her hunger had increased and she had a great desire for something sweet and something liquid. The dominating emotion that seemed to drive her was aggressiveness. Slowly but surely, she forgot about what she had been as other emotions took over. Her only purpose in life seemed to be to hunt for life sustaining food and to eat it once she had found it. Her aggressive nature compelled her to realize that she had her own defensive system, a deadly stinger in her tail. Suddenly, there was something in front of her, something large and it could fly too just like her. Before she realized it, the pink little thing with the transparent wings came at her because it had not seen her until it was too late. She felt herself being attacked so she did what her instincts told her to do; she attacked the attacker. She felt a surge of pride and jubilation as she buried the stinger deep into the stomach of the creature. She zipped around the being as its wings stopped flapping and it fell helplessly to the ground. Bored with the creature that didn’t move anymore, she felt that she needed to quench her thirst. She flew between the small plants, around huge tree trunks and zoomed through the leaves of the trees in search of something cool, soothing and refreshing. Her aggressiveness drove her onward until she spotted a huge area of something that looked interesting. She flew over the lake but something told her there was danger there. For one thing, she kept seeing another black and yellow creature just below her when she flew over the lake. She was uneasy about that being because it was able to imitate everything that she did. She didn’t like the looks of that being because it looked so aggressive and dangerous. Her interest in the creature was suddenly interrupted by a smell, an odor that she found to be more satisfying than the lake of water. Her insatiable thirst would surely be satisfied by whatever this new smell was coming from. There, in front of her was a new creature and it had something that she wanted. It had something that smelled good and she wanted it very badly more than she had ever wanted anything else in her life. She dived at the red and white can in the hand of the huge creature. She applauded herself for making such a perfect landing on the top of the can. She was rewarded with a savoring, sweet smell and lots of thick liquid that she couldn’t resist. To deny herself the pleasure of such a delicacy would be something so brutal that she could not stand it. Something huge passed over her and she barely escaped being knocked from the can. The desire for the wonderfully sweet liquid, of which she had only managed to get a taste, was too strong and she wasn’t going to give up on it that easily. In fact, she wasn’t going to give up on it at all. No creature was going to take that away from her now. She got her bearings and flew back toward the red and white can. She was more interested in the soft, white hand that held the delicious liquid and had tried to kill her. She would make it pay for that mistake. Her stinger penetrated the soft flesh and she beamed with delight when she saw the hand release the can. It was all hers now, she thought as the can fell to the ground spilling the liquid in a dozen different directions. As soon as she had landed near the huge pool of Coke, a large shadow suddenly appeared above her as the human foot smashed her skeleton into little pieces. She had killed the fairy never realizing that even if she had survived that the fairy that she had relied on to make her human again didn’t exist anymore. “That’ll teach you to take my Coke and sting me,” Rameez said angrily stooping down to inspect what was left of the insect not knowing that the little creature had once been his sister. “You’ll have to excuse me because I have to find my sister and give her the Coke I brought to her. It’s her favorite drink. Then I’ll have to put something on this sting that you gave me --- it hurts.” * * * Myra woke up screaming. It was several minutes before she realized that she wasn’t dead and that she hadn’t stung the fairy or her brother but she was still screaming when Rameez found her. “What’s wrong?” Rameez asked thinking that a snake or something else had bitten Myra. “I had a horrible dream,” Myra cried. “What kind of a dream? I mean, I was only gone for fifteen minutes and I brought you a Coke.” “I had a bad dream,” she repeated. “I dreamed that I caught a fairy and it turned me into a Yellow Jacket instead of a Honey Bee. I stung the Fairy and killed it and then I stung you.” “That was a bad dream,” Rameez agreed. “I guess I’ll have to watch out for Yellow Jackets from now on.” “Rameez,” she said, “there’s something that I’ve decided that I don’t want to do no matter what.” “And what is that sister?” “I don’t ever want to be a bee,” she assured him but neither of them laughed. The End
