A disillusioned honeybee from the safe, regulated confines of a garden crashlands in the wilderness territory of a brutal dictator – a wolf spider – and has to survive on the ground whilst trying to regain the power of flight.

Two neighbouring spheres of influence - the garden and the wilderness - are populated by invertebrates and flowers. Two themes are explored in this social allegory - conformity at an individual level, and the dynamics of global conflict - both of which impact heavily upon the lives of the protagonists.

The story begins in spring with the trials and tribulations of the honeybee, encountering various exotic and ferocious creatures before resolving the affliction which prevents her from flying. In summer, the honeybee becomes involved in global politics as conflict between the garden and the wilderness looms.

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Sunshine. An affectionate smile from a benevolent guardian nurturing a distant ward, and exacting a tribute from the denizens of the garden befitting a glorious deity. Golden sunflowers, towering and statuesque, reached up into the clear blue sky as if aspiring to kiss the scintillating orb ahead of the more modest and dissembling roses. These demure flowers were content to bathe their striking beauty in the cascade of warmth and light from the fiery god in the sky.

In the firmament surrounding the flowers, a swarm of honeybees danced with frenzied joy on this bright afternoon; driven by the engine of life to an orgiastic display of aerobatic skill and prowess. Soaring, spinning, looping and diving with power, grace, agility, and daredevil disregard for gravity or each other as they sought, through open competition, to impress and gain favour among the watching flowers.

The rules of the garden were simple enough, drawn from the imperative to survive and flourish within a complex society. Natural selection bestowed currency on the players with which to partake in the game. A commodity market trading nectar, pollen, and other less tangible qualia to be trafficked through the skies. ...

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Beneath the cloak of night, a darker form prowled the earth; as if the gravity of this being seized any photon which strayed within its orbit. A ghostly preternatural shadow gliding beneath the moonless sky. Death in its domain, holding illimitable dominion over all, so terrible were the acicular design of its fangs and the crushing power of its jaws.

A perfect killing machine evolved for this sole purpose, through stealth and sudden ambush, or a swift chase on powerful legs; running prey to ground or leaping up to snatch it from the air before rending it limb from limb. The ferocity of the spider was nonpareil and those of the wilderness who dwelt in its midst knew it to be devoid of all mercy or compassion.

Under the cover of darkness, it moved silently towards an unsuspecting victim. An unusual victim, since the spider was a devout carnivore; and a helpless victim, unable to run even as the first jagged hairs on its muscular legs pricked a sensitive peduncle.

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