There had been no sirens for their ears; no weather man to interrupt their peaceful sleep. Nonetheless, they knew it was coming.
The twisting snake of storm bit first in one place, then another.
The family closed in around their most precious, felt the walls tremble, then were hurled outward with their life’s work.
The cars crawled by, observing the aftermath, sympathetic to the neighbors. No one noticed the 12-unit apartment complex scattered in the trees.
The bees carried on their own search and rescue, rebuilding before the town had even awakened.
This week’s flash fiction is based on my own photo prompt – that of devastated bee hives following the Kimberling City-Branson-Kissee Mills, MO Tornado of February 29, 2012. I was struck by the unnoticed impact to all creatures – great and small – that a violent storm has on an area. After checking on family members’ safety, some of the saddest damage around my Aunt and Uncle’s home included those of his beloved bees. It was initially feared that the bees had all been lost, but miraculously, once the queens were placed in the hives, the corresponding swarms for each one circled above their respective sector and settled in. And while we congratulate one another on our survival and fortitude, I cannot help but be humbled by the little honeybee’s tenacity and unerring instinct to carry on – without news coverage, government assistance, charity drives, or credit at Home Depot.
Somehow, the honey tastes all the sweeter this side of the storm.
Karen B. Nelson 
It’s a powerful response to an even more powerful event. I really enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading mine!
Erin
Dear Karen,
You found a unique perspective and used it to simultaneously highlight nature’s power and resilience. Very well done.
Aloha,
Doug
What an interesting take on disaster. We humans are always so wrapped up in our own losses, we often overlook the devastation to the other creatures around us. This really made me think. Wonderful.
Here’s mine: http://teschoenborn.com/2012/03/15/friday-fictioneers-2/
What a good perspective and eye for the unnoticed! I liked your original take on “re-building” in this piece. I hope your family is OK in the aftermath but I applaud your sensitivity to those lesser-than us humans. We aren’t the only ones walking this earth.
Good job!
http://thewriternubbin.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/flash-friday-fictioneers-the-vigil/
Wow. You know what I think would be great? A realistic retelling/accounting of the damage to the bees done in the storm. It reads like the opening to an Alice Munro story. I love this bit:
“After checking on family members’ safety, some of the saddest damage around my Aunt and Uncle’s home included those of his beloved bees. It was initially feared that the bees had all been lost, but miraculously, once the queens were placed in the hives, the corresponding swarms for each one circled above their respective sector and settled in.”
Anyway, my contribution this week is also from a different prompt than Madison’s: http://furiousfictions.com. I also hope you have time to check out D.S. Sulaitis’s terrific story, “The Lovers,” which I posted on Tuesday.
Fascinating, you show the power of the devastation, and yet the bees just keep rebuilding. I’ve always been terrified of tornadoes.
Karen, What an incredible piece. Loved the quote ” Somehow, the honey tastes all the sweeter this side of the storm. I think i’ll ALWAYS appreciate bees and honey more from this day forward. Powerful post–well done.
BTW–thanks for visiting and commenting on mine. It was appreciated.
Thank you for sharing! This is interesting – no time to mourn, the bees know it’s time to get back to work regardless.
PS – I’ll be getting bees next week – though we are starting with Mason Bees…hopefully they will help my fruit trees…be fruitful!
~Susan (Here’s mine: http://www.susanwenzel.com/)
We are so ego-centric thinking this is all about humans, but the bees must start over, too. Well done twist, KB.
Here’s mine today:
http://siobhanmuir.blogspot.com/2012/03/outside-of-dog-100words-for.html
I’m impressed. I moved to the Midwest to chase tornadoes, but I forget, in the thrill of the chase, that SOMEONE is going to be hurt, is going to lose their home. Thank you for sharing this with me and showing me that there are OTHER victims, still, to be considered.
Here’s mine:
http://sarahthestoryteller.wordpress.com
I really liked this story told from the perspective of the bees. And I appreciated getting to see a picture of it, as I was wondering what that looked like behind their house. Thanks for the Flash Fiction!
Hi Karen,
I’m glad you went off on your own this week. When you have that kind of opportunity presented to you, you just have to use it, and you did. Beautifully written and the bees are a great metaphor for the rebuilding process. Glad you are all right.
Here’s mine: http://bridgesareforburning.wordpress.com/
Wow. This was an incredible piece (I especially liked your addendum at the end). What a great take (and POV) on such a violent event.
Mine is here: http://threedescriptors.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/flash-fiction-18-watch-dog/
Liked this tale of a storm from the perspective of the tenacious honeybee. Thanks for the backstory, too. Interesting. I’m glad to hear they keep going, even after a natural disaster of that scale!
My entry, based on the original prompt, is over here: http://joannakneilson.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/flash-fiction-friday-send-mitsy/
Creation marches on while Man remains clueless.
Here’s my story from the original prompt: http://wp.me/p24aJS-3m
This was an awesome testimony to the resilience of life on earth. When our own lives shatter, the world goes on, as it should. So glad the queen was spared and her workers rallied around. I imagine the honey can’t get much sweeter than that.