Epic of Bee

"Thank you!" I said as I received my cup of coffee.

I stepped from the counter with a smile, smelling the sweetness of the drink, warming me up somehow. I remember this day whenever I closed my eyes and thought of how hard my life became after it.

My name is Ash, and I have a story, just like everyone, but mine isn't like any other person on this planet. Today was the day that one accident changed my very existence and forced me into a reality that I wasn't prepared to face, and I struggle with it even now.

I was born on April 29th, but the year doesn't matter, none of this world does anymore, but it is where my story truly began. Before I start, I would like to say a few things about myself to understand the story.

I was an only child with a single mother who did more than well for herself and didn't let me get in the way of that. I still turned out fine with good morals and a great life.

I still miss her, but I know that despite what happened, she would grieve. Then, she would continue living, my memory would always be there, but she would move on.

This all might have been a lot harder to accept if we had been closer, but that wasn't the case. I was a bit of an ugly duckling, but my mother told me to focus on becoming the best me.

She told me if I constantly worked to improve myself, others would flock to me to show their respect and awe. She also told me that I would find a woman that idolizes me for my unique talents.

That was my mom telling me I would find a woman that would love me no matter how funny I looked. I wasn't hideous, and I did stay fit; I was just below average.

Through school, I did as my mother suggested, but I took it a little too literal. In the end, it was worth it; I passed with a solid eighty percent average while ignoring everyone.

That's what I told myself, and I also would constantly remind myself that my job could have been pumping gas or flipping burgers. Instead, I worked as a desk jockey typing out handwritten files at an insurance company was so much better.

Needless to say, my life was far from exciting. Although last week I had a homeless man try to rob me with a broken beer bottle, then he seized up and fell over.

I was pretty sure he died, but I just kept walking. That was more than enough excitement for one day.

So this brings me to walking out of Bim's Coffee Shop. I am twenty-four right now, and tomorrow is my birthday; woo!

If you're wondering, Ash, the great desk jockey, did not have any plans for tomorrow. I would get a call from Paula, my mother; this was the first scheduled call of the year.

It was one of the three; the next would be labor day to make sure I was ready for school and then Christmas. The Labor day call had just stuck even though I wasn't in school anymore; it was still the scheduled day.

I waited for the light to turn red so I could cross. I remembered that it wasn't that windy, but it was god-awfully cold. About minus thirty-two Celsius, but I was almost to my apartment.

The light turned red, and I was about to go, but that's when I saw the giant truck about to blow the light. I stepped back a bit from the edge, but I never saw the other semi-truck that was sliding in on the left of me.

Neither of the trucks was moving at fast speeds, and it looked like it was going to be just the two trucks slamming into each other. When it happened, the second truck had a load of small smart cars on its trailer, and there was a strap that wasn't secure.

I had no time to react; it all happened so fast. The car flipped off the trailer, and then my world went black.

That should have been it, or maybe some pearly gates?

All you can eat taco Tuesday every day of the week?

No, none of that, just darkness surrounded me. The last thing I remembered was thinking that this was one of those things that would be used as a reference to getting struck by lightning.

The funny thing was that I wasn't that far off. A voice spoke from the darkness.

"Ash, upon dying, you have died in a new way that has never happened before. For this, we commend you. As a reward for such a spectacular death, You shall be born again. You will be given help from the assistance of The Queen System."

There was nobody to see, just a voice to hear. I had no eyes, but I had a… wrinkled tube for a body? It was hard to think, who was this voice, and what was going on?

"Go forth, Child of Rebirth, and may you live a long and prosperous life. We also hope that when your time does come that you will die a glorious death doing something no one has ever done before! I hope to see you again when the time comes, Ash."

The voice wasn't male or female, deep or high. It was just a voice, and it was gone now. I could hear other voices now, the sounds of buzzing and male voices.

"We should get back, you know what this is like, and it looks like they are about to hatch. Go get the queen; you know how she feels about watching this," One of the voices said with disgust.

I could feel my arms and legs, but the total was wrong. On top of that, there were way too many things that were not normal.

I could feel weirdly jointed legs that felt like they were connected to my waist, and that wasn't right. I tried to move around, but I was wrapped in some kind of golden cocoon and shoved into a hole that didn't feel very big.

"Get back; the first one is coming out! Now she is going to go kill all the other virgin queens. Pretty tragic, but we are just workers, so it is what it is, and it's the queen's orders."

I did not like the sounds of that! But that was when my heart started to pound like a hammer in my chest. I heard the screams of girls cry out and then cut off, one by one.

Was I about to die before even getting a chance to live?