Small Changes

Flying with my sisters offered me the greatest sense of peace and freedom. Serenity in the slipstream as we hunted and gathered for our tribe. As idyllic a life as one could hope for. The climate was temperate, with a glowing yellow sun beaming down on us, lifting our spirits and easing any aches and stiffness in our muscles.

Birds flew above us as the fish in the lakes frolicked and danced in the clearest blues. As we flew to our favourite part of the town, we passed over my favourite street vendor. Isla sold the strongest and sweetest freshly squeezed orange juice. She may not have stood out to everyone, but she did to me in her bright orange bikini. Often, when the breeze settled in later in the evening, she'd wear her matching airy, flowy kimono. Today, however, her lightly tanned skin glowed as her curves were accentuated by her two-piece.

I gently slowed my flapping to float down and land on her wrist.

She welcomed me with a smile and offered an orange wedge for me to drink from.

My sisters called to me.

"Hurry up, Bella. We'll miss the best spots."

They didn't approve of me spending time with Isla. I figured they were just jealous. They suggested we should stick to our own tribe.

Isla had once told me the warmest part of the year hadn't even arrived yet.

Isla stroked her finger along my back gently, and I nibbled at her fingertip enough to make her gasp before I was back in the air and gaining on my sisters.

We arrived at our favourite spot and found it was busy, but my sisters had worried for nothing as there was plenty of space for our foraging picnic.

We gorged until we were full and collected little natural jewels to take back to the rest of the tribe when we returned home.

As we flew over Isla's stall, I told my sisters I'd meet them back home. Isla was preparing to close up shop and chomped on a juicy orange segment as I landed on her décolletage. I slurped at the excess as it dripped from her plump lips, which formed a mischievous smile, and down her rounded chin.

We would often just sit and enjoy each other's company. Serenity of silence. The sound of our friendship.

My heart beat out of sync with hers, but the rumble was delightful.

We knew we had other friends, of course, but our kinship was special.

As she pulled her kaftan over her glowing skin, I sighed and breathed in her scent and let her heartbeat rumble beneath me again before I soared above her and headed home.

I found my space beside my sisters. Despite the sheer size of our commune, we preferred to huddle together. Though I had dreamed of inviting Isla to visit, I didn't think my tribe would welcome her or allow her to huddle with us.

Small changes, Isla had always said to me. Small changes can make the world better.

I dreamed of those small changes and a more tolerant and connected world. Isla and Bella's Fruit and Pollen stand. The kind of synergy that this old world lacked. It was paradise. But there always seemed to be a but.

My dream didn't last nearly as long as I would have hoped when the alarm call sounded for another day out in the wild to hunt and gather.

I felt at peace in the air, the slipstream serene, but something was different. A slight chill. But as we'd flown over Old Mr Partridge's home many times before while his wind turbine was running, I didn't think much of it.

Isla was looking radiant as ever. This time in a tight green bikini top that made for a pretty sight from our flight path.

Her legs were more covered than usual, though. If she wore a matching pair of briefs, as she usually did, they were hidden beneath a pair of green denim shorts. The kind that had been worn out, not the designer kind. These were lived and loved in. The frayed denim and revealing holes across her thighs were evidence of her life.

She was dealing with various customers as I flew over, so I dropped my wing speed a little to buzz past her golden bee earring, the vibration of my tiny wings setting it fluttering like a petal in a breeze.

We headed to the flower patch and found a spot we hadn't foraged before. As I worked through the overgrown plants and flowers, I gorged on an abundance. One solitary lavender bud refused to open for me, but other than that, the feast felt as good as, or maybe even better than, the one we'd enjoyed yesterday.

As evening set in, it was time to soar home and, as usual, I stopped short to spend some time with Isla.

She muttered and whispered to me in English, and I understood her. I think our connection allowed for a deeper understanding, though.

It was that feeling of being with the one person who understands you. Your thoughts are like theirs and vice versa.

Verbal language was not a barrier.

Her dimpled cheeks and pretty smile when she glanced down at me as I tickled her palms told me everything I needed to know.

She lifted her palm gently so my little furry body was level with her eyes, and as mine met hers—those green eyes—we felt more connected than ever. Before I set off into the darkening sky, back to deliver the treasure I had found and ready to repeat it all again tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow would be different. As Isla often promised.

There was no call to begin, or at least I don't remember one. I just remember taking to the skies with my sisters. It was only after flying several miles that I noted our numbers had dwindled. Not that casualties of life weren't to be expected, just not quite as many overnight.

Still, the sun rose and warmed my wings as I sighed with contentment, soaring further towards the front of our flight group. I slowed as I approached Isla's stand.

From afar, something was different.

More of her glow had been hidden by a pair of jeans and a cardigan. Though her face still radiated beauty, and her happiness at catching sight of me eased me, it was different landing on the fuzzy fibres of her cardigan sleeve. I felt a little trapped.

Not that I complained about being trapped with Isla.

Her look was not as free and wild as it had been, but Isla could pull it off with gentle grace and effortless style.

Her heartbeat was not quite as steady as it had been, her pulse rumbling beneath me.

She stroked gently through my fur and I felt hesitation and concern in her caress. This matched the sigh of uncertainty that escaped her plump but bruised lips. Her teeth marks had left lines of stress on the pink pillows of her mouth.

It was only then that I noticed her orange supply had dwindled and that she had set up an urn and was offering coffee.

Reluctant as I was to leave, I had a job to do. Though, if I had known what faced me as I approached the lavender and chrysanthemum patches we frequented on a normal hunt, I would have stayed and nibbled her delicate, sun-washed skin between my mandibles some more.

Our normally fervent band of mighty hunters had dwindled in size and seemed lacklustre.

We collected far less pollen than I had ever seen us gather, and many rested where they foraged or took to the skies and headed for home.

I continued, though by the time evening had fallen, it was largely in vain, as I had collected only a meagre selection of pollen.

As I jetted through the slipstream created by the small number who had stayed with me, I slowed to check in with Isla. Her stand had been closed for the evening, much earlier than usual, and she was nowhere to be seen.

As strange and alarming as that was, I needed to get back to the safety of the hive before my energy was completely sapped.

Once back in the safety of the hive, I noticed there was a greater sense of protectiveness over our food than usual and, as I settled in for the night, I noticed that many of my sisters were not just tired but exhausted.

Every breath was weariness.

And as we huddled, it felt more claustrophobic and urgent.

As a rooster called out in the distance, it felt as if nothing really had changed until I took to the skies and saw that there were only half as many steadily soaring the slipstream as there had been yesterday.

As I floated gently down to Isla's stand, she was now fully covered and only the ethereal beauty of her glowing, sun-soaked face was visible.

As I rested on the soft but cold polyester of her strange new coat, I still felt at ease, as I always did when her big, beautiful green eyes glanced down at me, but the curl of her lips unsettled me.

"I have something to show you," was the only thing she said to me as she cradled me on her palm.

She took me through the marketplace and past the flower patches I usually hunted.

Perhaps to ease my concern, as she no doubt felt my little heart race, she told me she would take care of me.

I felt safe as we walked steadily to what I had always believed was the edge of our little home. It was the furthest I had ever been, but with Isla, it felt as exhilarating as it did unnerving.

I wanted to be strong for her as I felt her concern and anxiety grow.

We approached a small woodland area that seemed... different. The colouring of the branches and leaves was not quite as lush and green as the trees closer to the marketplace had been.

There was a lot more brown and I shivered a little, perhaps out of fear or at the slight drop in temperature.

Isla carefully placed me in her jacket just above her chest. The warmth there, and her aroma of citrus and flesh, calmed me as we reached a barren clearing.

"It's worse than I thought," she whispered in horror as we approached what looked like a barrier.

On our side there was still green grass, though it had wilted. Behind the barrier, the land was barren. I had never seen any part of our beautiful paradise so devoid of colour and life.

As we approached the barrier, I tried to make a sound or movement to stop Isla, but she reached out and stroked the edge of what I had previously failed to notice was a gap.

A hole a little taller than Isla's five-foot-six frame.

I didn't understand.

"I just need to look."

Isla didn't even look for my reaction to her comment as she cleared the jagged remains of the barrier that ran around the edges of the gap.

A gust of wind unlike anything I had felt before blew against Isla's always-warm skin, and I felt unsteady.

She carefully stepped forward as brown, dead leaves and dust clung to the soles of her boots. I hadn't even noticed that she was wearing boots rather than the toe-baring sandals she wore every day.

The horizon was misty. White and grey, but not in a clean way. There was nothing clean or pristine about it. A number of trees formed an eerie aisle for us to walk along towards the dark nothing ahead.

Bones were scattered across the threshold. Some still resembled the creatures they once were, while others had been displaced and separated. Small pits scarred the ground, surrounded by the blackened remains of fires long extinguished. Dread crept through me.

A distant hum sounded. The smell was strange. There was the peaty, woody scent of old fires, but beyond that, nothing. No flowers. No damp earth. Not even the stench of decomposition or death reached me.

"The test zone has been breached. Two lifeforms have been detected."

As Isla carried us forward, closer to the darkness, it seemed to surround us and threaten to swallow us. A strange warmth emanated from within it, and an ominous beat vibrated through the broken ground beneath Isla's feet.

"Extermination imminent."

"Bella, my beautiful friend. I need you to trust me. Fly back to the other side."

That was all she said as she turned and launched me towards the opening in the barrier. I flew as quickly as I could, thinking Isla would follow me.

I couldn't slow down, and part of me didn't want to until we were both safe, but I sensed something was still off.

As I slowed as quickly as possible and turned, I saw the gap in the barrier disappear. Repaired may have been a better word.

Isla was still on the other side.

Large talons, similar to an eagle's but not quite the same—metallic and unnatural—gripped around her body and tightened.

Silence followed. Warmth followed.

A silent warmth.

Instincts kicked in and I flew back to the hive. I passed the chrysanthemum and lavender fields, Isla's stand, and arrived home to huddle close with my sisters.

Though a coldness coated me that I could never shift.

*

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