Traveling up the vine, while staying out of sight from Gray Blur. It keeps trying to turn me into a mid-afternoon snack regardless. While I’m small enough to stay hidden beneath the leaves, it does me little good when Gray Blur can just stick its head underneath the leaves and peck at me.

The green, spade shaped leaves don’t exactly help me blend in, though I still wouldn’t be able to blend in when I’m glowing. However, I soon entered a stalemate with the shrike. As I’m spotted, I travel further up the vine where the bigger leaves provide more surface area for me to hide under and slowly start to slow down Gray Blur more and more as the cumbersome leaves become more difficult to move.

With plenty of cover, it’s not too difficult to avoid death. I hide beneath a vine leaf, Gray Blur tries to move the leaf and bite me, and then I move to a higher position under a bigger leaf as Gray Blur moves from under the leaf to give chase.

Eventually, Gray Blur will get bored and then leave me alone for easier prey. That’s the smart thing to do, besides it already had a good meal with all those creatures it ate earlier in the day.

Sadly, nothing is ever as easy as it should be.

Seeing Gray Blur’s head peek under the leaf, it doesn’t immediately go under the leaf to peck at me. Thinking this is my lucky break, I stay in place under the leaf as surely Gray Blur has given up. However, a building glow that soon becomes strong enough to show the leaf’s once hidden veins fills me with unease.

Quickly flying from underneath the leaf, I’m lucky enough to see Gray Blur’s glowing claw swoop through the air, creating a sharp hiss as it tears the leaf into shreds and digs past the vine’s stem, gouging out a grove shaped like its tiny claws into the tree’s bark.

strong enough to leave claw marks in steel!

Dr. Avem’s letter flashes through my mind. If big animals are able to mutilate steel then it makes sense even for this tiny bird to destroy wood. This isn’t looking too good for me.

A cold shiver runs through me and once again I find myself staring Gray Blur in the eyes. The sneer Gray Blur seems to naturally possess, pushes me to restart my quest to stay hidden. But it all seems so pointless if Gray Blur can just demolish my hiding spot and me in it at the same time.

Before I can even reach the next leaf, Gray Blur’s still shining claw tears through the air towards me. Trying my best to avoid it, I fly away from the tree and the air pressure of its claws help push me out of harm’s way. Still continuing with its attack, Gray Blur quickly mutilates most of the surrounding leaves on the vine with a few quick swipes.

Stuck hovering away from the tree with no more leafy shelters intact, it seems this must’ve been that damn bird’s plan all along. To leave me stranded with no protection.

Giving up, I continue to hover in place while praying for a clean death. It’s obvious there’s no escape. Sensing my intentions, Gray Blur triumphantly flaps their wings towards me. The glow of its claws start fading and its leisurely elegance is once again back in full swing.

Within a few seconds, Gray Blur’s beek is inches away, ready to chomp me to bits. The joy in its eyes are impossible to hide, but it quickly turns to shock as an even bigger predatory bird’s claws pierces through its body in record speed. Gray Blur’s blood splatters as their lifeless body is dragged high up into the sky past the canopy.

I make a silent prayer for the beauty that is the cycle of life.

Exhaustion fills my body as whatever kept me going while my life was in danger is drained away. As much as I wish to immediately head back to the hive for safety and food. My body is greatly craving something to quench my thirst.

The small amounts of tree sap leaking from the tree’s damaged bark calls out to my tired body. Landing on the groves Gray Blur so kindly dug out, I quickly drank the available sap. Thank goodness I’m small so this miniscule amount is more than enough to quench my thirst and growing hunger.

I’ve always wanted to feed the bees from my apiary maple sap. Usually the flavor of honey is heavily affected by the flowers that the forager bees gather nectar from. So I figured that bees that primarily store maple sap would produce a honey with hints of maple.

Unfortunately, I could never truly test it as there are no maples in my area that I could tap for sap. It’s not like you can just buy maple sap either to my knowledge since it’s always turned into syrup or used in another product.

With a filled stomach and bird free environment, I make my way back to the hive which was never that far to begin with.

Making my way to the still abnormally large entrance, I land on the entrance’s edge and stare out away from the hive. With a greater appreciation towards being able to stay hidden, I have a lot less complaints about the hive’s entrance.

The hive is in an extremely obscured position with the limbs of the tree it’s located in as well as nearby trees’ limbs covering up the hive. It’s almost impossible to notice as the entrance’s shape almost looks like it isn’t an entrance with how similarly shaped it is to the nearby branches.

Even with me knowing its location, I still wasn’t able to pinpoint the entrance until I had moved past the low hanging, drooping branches.

Suddenly the light hum of the bees’ buzzing wings stops spontaneously. Stomach twisting, I quickly turn around and am once again greeted with the sight of the worker bees staring at me. My presence that is usually never acknowledged is suddenly the highlight of the hive.

The sea of bees parts and reveals the now fully matured, young queen.

“Ah there you are, it’s good to see that you’re ready to go on our mating flight.”

I quickly take back my prayer towards the cycle of life, it’s unkind intentions once again rear its ugly head. All I can do is question reality, how did she mature so quickly?