A BEETLE'S LIFE EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM HORNET

CHAPTER I: PROLOGUE

My name is Dim. I'm a rhinoceros beetle. Like all beetles, I have six legs, a tough exoskeleton (which physically protects us somewhat from other bugs of our size) and a pair of wings, which, when I am not flying, are concealed by the back part of my shell. Most beetles live in colonies. The colony can range in population from just a few hundred to several million. Each individual colony only had beetles of one species though.

I used to belong to a colony. They live not far from here, under a collection of straw. Many years ago, our ancestors established the colony there, and, since then, it has flourished, growing into a sizeable colony containing around 50,000 rhinoceros beetles at present. They have used the complex of spacious tunnels built by our ancestors to great use, with food storage rooms, rooms for beetle larvae (I was there when I was young); sleeping quarters (really just mounds of semi-comfortable earth for each beetle, the royal beetles have their own room) and more besides. I was a Worker. More than half the colony was Workers. All we really did was fetch food, most of which was stored for each forthcoming winter, where food was much scarcer. Most of the rest of the colony were either Earth Moulders (to further make more tunnels) or Soldiers, who handled fighting against rival colonies or, occasionally, other insects. That was why I was banished.

I'll never forget that day, mostly because it only happened a week ago. As is custom in most beetle colonies, the males have to fight each other for the females. Naturally, most beetles try to end up fighting a beetle that does the same work, as your job in the colony gradually shapes your body to adapt to that kind of work. For instance, an Earth Moulder beetle would be crushed easily by a Soldier beetle. Likewise, an Earth Moulder would have little problem taking down a Worker. This mating season was a particularly active one, as mere months before there had been an outburst of female larvae, many of which had grown into quite attractive beetles, especially when they lay there on a rock in a beautiful pose, waiting for the beetle that would win the fight for her.

I had my eyes set on an Earth Moulder beetle name Cora. I had never formally talked to her, as we had different jobs, but that didn't matter to me, not at the moment. By the time I had found the rock she was sitting on, most other male beetles had already chosen a mate, but she was still alone. My heart had lifted. I started to walk, almost casually, towards her, when – I was shoved aside. Looking up, I saw that it was Weaver, a Soldier beetle who personally had it in for me. Before he had reached Cora, I had caught up to him and hit him as hard as I could. Once he had got up, he smirked, clearly thinking he would have no problem taking me down. Cora was watching, clearly curious as to who would win.

I was halfway through the fight when there was a loud noise like a blow horn. We all knew what that meant. The hornets were attacking again! They were a vicious group of insects that scouted the lands, attacking and devouring various other insects. We may out number them about 50 to 1, but they were much tougher fighters, mostly due to their stingers, and they never gave up. It was only due to numbers that we managed to drive them out every time. Unfortunately, this time many of our beetles were already exhausted due to fighting for females.

As was the code, we all ran back to the tunnels. The colony had long since prepared a defense plan for every time the hornets returned, and, so far, it had been quite successful. Needless to say, I was among the last to enter the tunnels, by which time the buzzing sound of the hornets wings was already upon us. It was then that it all went wrong. Normally, once all the beetles were in the tunnels, the entrance was sealed with a rock, so the hornets could not find the colony and would give up and fly off. I was mere inches from the entrance when it was sealed. I panicked, knowing that I would stand no chance against 1000 hornets. I then made the grave mistake of hammering on the rock and yelling for them to quickly let me in.

Then, the hornets appeared out of nowhere, and they had seen me revealing the tunnel entrance. Naturally, they easily crushed the rock and fought the colony. Eventually, they fled, as they had lost half their number, but so had we. Such a grave mistake would normally have meant the death penalty, but the King and Queen, who rather liked me, instead banished me, saying that really was the last straw, as I had made minor mistakes before this.

That was a week ago. I was now living among long grass stalks not far from the colony. So far, I had managed to survive by snacking on food occasionally dropped by Workers as they continued to fetch food for the colony. Yet that wasn't enough to sustain me. I was still hungry, despite eating a kernel as big as me for dinner. It wasn't just the hunger, though. I last lost my only chance to mate with Cora, as Weaver would have done so by now. But the biggest problem was that I was now an outcast, and extremely vulnerable to any hornet that I happened to cross paths with. It was about a half hour after dinner that I decided to take action. I was going to return to the colony. They would probably kill me, true, but that was a more prideful death then getting killed by a lone hornet or starving of hunger.

I could probably blend in with the Workers. As there were so many, it was hard to tell who was who at times. But it didn't work. No sooner had I joined the line, carrying food, that I was identified. Several Soldiers immediately captured me and frogmarched me to the King and Queen. I explained why I had returned. Once that was done, they had a royal huddle and then told me my fate. They were going to send me to the hornets with a proposition for a peace treaty.

Naturally, I didn't want to, but it was either that or death, so off I went. The instant I arrived at the hornet's nest, I was again captured, and again brought to their King and Queen. Once I had told them about the peace treaty proposition, they gave a signal to the hornets holding me, and they marched me to their dungeons, where I was thrown into a cage. I didn't know what would happen now, but one thing was for sure. Death was inevitable...


Approximate Chapter Running Time: 00:00-00:05