7 Keeping Mama Safe

After I hid my stash, I gave Vava the jewel wasp corpse, and I went to see what Mama was up to. She usually stayed in the tunnels and was brought food by her many paramours. She liked working to sustain the inner workings of the colony. So, working with the council members to order around lackeys who did all the major work.

Any excess resources were handled by my Mama, and she would distribute it to other beings who could do the work best. She ordered around earthworms, termites, black ants, and beetles, among other things. Everyone loved my Mama, and I loved her.

"Mama! I brought something for you," I hollered outside her resting area.

I tapped my antennae on the wall outside her area. I always did that to signal to her that it was me and that I needed to talk to her. It had started off as a nervous thing I did as a nymph. I would tap tap tap when I wanted to talk about something, but didn't know how. Mama always knew how to look out for physical cues like that, and would pull me away from everyone to talk to me. As an adult, I have to seek her out more, but it's still the same. She'll always be my Mama.

No one answered me, so I guessed she was in the council tunnels. I left the curled up fly body in her resting area before scurrying away toward those tunnels. It was as active as usual at the moment. Sunny up or sunny down. The colony would always be bustling with activity. That was how it always should be. I would guarantee it stayed that way.

When I got to the council tunnels, I heard a commotion.

"Now, Now...this is just a misunderstanding," said Mama's voice.

I scurried into the room to see what was going on.

"I paid ahead for entrance into this house for overwintering. We dragged over many treats while they were still in season, and you are telling me that our spot is already occupied?!" an agitated stink bug yelled at Mama.

"It is a simple misunderstanding which can be solved by moving you to a different part of the home," Mama calmly replied.

"A different----!!!" The stink bug sputtered and its body started to vibrate.

"A much safer and secure area, and when everything begins to get warmer you'll have direct access to outside. No interference or Big Ones crushing them there babies," Mama said.

She waved an antenna toward the leaf a stink bug was settled beside in the waiting area. There were at least two dozen tiny marble egg-drops on the leaf. Pearly white and smooth. The male stink bug stops vibrating when he hears this.

"No extra charges. I can call over some worker ants to move some of your treats up there for ya," Mama continued.

"Uh-huh. Well, if you could call them over now. We've done a lot of traveling and would like to rest some time before the seasons change!" The stink bug grumbled.

"I'll lead you to your space, follow me," Mama said before exiting the waiting area and leading the male stink bug out.

The female stink bug and the egg-drops stay in the waiting area until the male stink bug returned to report on how good their new space was. A couple worker ants passed by holding grapes, cherries, apple slices, and beans.

The female stink bug stood to the side and thanked Mama for the space.

"Ya'll were highly recommended," the female stink bug mentioned to Mama.

"Oh, really?" Mama replied.

"I was told that these Big Ones don't do any weather stripping, and don't spend time in their home. It'll probably be a quiet overwintering. We like it chill, so we can fully hibernate, you know," the female stink bug said.

"Well, that is correct. They welcome all sorts here. We don't usually have any problems with our Big Ones. No wars have happened on these grounds in many, many generations," Mama told the female.

"Well, that is comforting. Thank you again. Goodbye."

Mama wriggled at the retreating bug and then turned to me.

"What you doing here? Looking for scraps? Nobody has dropped anything good," Mama snapped at me.

"I just missed you, Mama. I wanted to give you a treat, but you weren't resting," I replied while I bobbed my body side to side.

My antennae swayed as I smiled at my Mama.

"You went by my resting area?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"And you left me something delicious in it?" She crawled closer to my happy form.

"Yeaaaa."

She jumped on my back and nipped me.

"Aaaah. What's that for Mama?!" I exclaimed and tried to get away.

Her wider body pushed me down to my belly.

"You know Ya and Ra always at my resting area stealing my snacks. Your brothers are spoiled. You should have brought it over here. Now, I gotta wait till the end of my shift to get something good from Wree," Mama said before she dropped off my back and went back to her secretary perch.

At the mention of Papa, I popped up and yelled, "Not from Wreeee!"

"Huh? What?" Mama questioned, "Why not?"

"I just...he seems really busy. You should go check on Tiger. He seemed really lonely this season," I quickly tried to think of a reason for her not to see Papa.

Tiger was a consumer that had gold and black striped wings and his legs were orange.

I had to separate them before the flood happens. After everything with the flood, Mama had started depending solely on Papa Wree, and he used that to his advantage. When the kidnappings started, she was one of the first batches captured. He didn't have to do much to capture Mama. She had trusted him with all her whole heart. Too bad consumers don't die when their hearts stop. She probably lived through most of the torture the Big Ones put her through.

"Did he mention me?" Mama asked while fluttering her wings.

"Isn't he near his last season? I'd wanna see you if I was near my last season. You're a breath of foul air, Mama. You're an infestation of the mind and soul. He probably thinks about your mating more than anyone else's'." I said while swaying my antennae left and right.

Mama watched my antennae and popped up, "Stop that. It's weird. I'll go check on Tiger when my shift ends. If he said anything like that to you, he must truly be at his end."

With that done, I went to go snoop on Papa. What was he up to right now? If I could get into an argument with him he might try to attack me. Then I could use my cool new moves to slice him to pieces. The plan is fool proof.

I left the council tunnels and went to look in all his old, current, haunts.