Andy had chosen the hard road in life. Unlike almost all the other drones, he’d decided to join the workers. He just couldn’t abide by the idea of doing nothing all day at the hive, he wanted to go out and see the world.

It was during his training that the instructor looked at each of them in turn, long and hard. “Beware the silky touch of the petals of flowers. They compete for your company, and some of them will swallow you whole if you let them.” The instructor showed horrifying pictures of carnivorous plants and warned them in harsh tones to stay away from such dangers.

Today was Andy’s first flight, his first time leaving the hive. He loaded his leg-satchels and watched an experienced worker dancing, showing everyone the directions to a field full of flowers. Once he was sure he had the directions memorized, he jogged quickly to the hive entrance and took flight into the warm, summer sky.

It felt glorious, the wind in his face, caressing his legs and body! The sun beat down upon him, making him feel alive as he never had while inside the hive.

Andy flew on for some time, enjoying the unusual solitude. He knew it the moment he entered the field of flowers, he could actually smell the sweet nectar, calling to him from the fluffy anthers of the flowers, displayed so beautifully amidst their magnificent petals.

Andy remembered his training, and kept his eyes peeled for a flower that was laden with pollen, ripe to be harvested. He knew he had to make the choice carefully. Many flowers were dangerous, and traded with other animals. He had to make it worth the risk of landing, of taking the time to gather.

He stopped briefly at a few, smaller flowers. He only collected a handful of pollen at each one before getting the feeling he was unwelcome and taking off again into the breeze. He grew frustrated. This was hardly going as he’d anticipated!

It was as he flew, scrutinizing each flower he passed, that he nearly stopped mid-flight. There, apart from all the other flowers, growing sweetly in the shade of a tree, was a flower more beautiful than he had ever seen, more perfect than any picture he’d come across. She had dark, velvety petals that curled outwards from her center, and her anthers were so full of pollen he could smell it from where he hovered. He wanted nothing more in life than to crawl inside her sweet petals and collect her bounty.

Cautious but undeniably excited, he landed meekly on the outer edge of her petals. He used a deferential tone, just as he’d been taught. “Miss, may I harvest the pollen from your anthers?”

She turned her curly, stigma-topped pistil to face him and examined him curiously. “You, you’re a drone.”

Andy blushed, “I… I’m sorry. I know it’s unusual, but I didn’t want to spend my life doing nothing in our hive.”

The flower fluttered underneath him. “No one comes to collect my pollen, as I’m so far away from the other flowers. I was afraid I’d go unfertilized.”

Andy, being new to his work, didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

The flower ruffled soothingly beneath him. “I’ll let you collect all of my pollen, if you’ll fertilize me.”

Andy cocked his head at her, “How do I do that?”

She giggled happily. “See my stigma, at my very center?” Andy nodded, entranced. “I want you to take some of the pollen you’ve collected elsewhere, and rub it there.”

Timid and inexperienced, Andy took a small handful of pollen from one of his leg satchels and sprinkled it where she had said. She shook beneath him with excitement, “Rub it in, it will help it germinate.”

Feeling inexplicably warm, he rubbed the fine powder into each crevice of her delicate stigma. “Now collect my pollen.”

Crawling up her dainty filaments, one after the other, he filled his leg satchels to overflowing with her heady pollen.

She sighed contentedly. “My ovule is fertilized, my fruit will have a seed now, all because of you.”

Andy blushed again, “And you have laden me down with such a great reward, I cannot even take it all with me.”

She giggled, “Then use it to fertilize other flowers on your way home, sweet drone.” With that, she kissed him lightly with her petals, making his heart race.

Giddy with excitement, Andy took flight, then began the long journey back to the hive. Just as his beautiful flower had asked of him, he stopped several times to pollinate a few more flowers using what he had collected from her anthers.

The rest of the day, his head was in the clouds, as he daydreamed of the sweet kiss from his pretty flower and the rite of fertilization.

Notes

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