Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
’ Nectar hated this song. Nectar the queen hasbeen listening to this song for the sixteen daysof her childhood; when she was an egg, larvaeand cocoon. ’Dear little queen, come on go tosleep to wake up early and lead the bees.»
1
Her babysitters sung it to her while they werefeeding her royal nectar, while they werecleaning her, before she went to sleep. Nectarhated this song from the head and the kneeand toe and the wings and antennas. She hadhad enough.
2
’ Is this how I’ll spend the rest ofmy life?’ Nectarmurmured. ’The only reason I leave the hiveis for a honey moon or to lead my thousandfamily members to a new hive? She observedthe worker bees as they laughed and dancedunder the sun. she saw them inhale the lovelysmell of lavender. She envied them as theycame back to the hive and told their friendsabout the flowers they’ve visited. ’They hoveraround, while all what I have to do is lay eggs.’Nectar thought and thought.
3
She was obsessed by the idea of running away.She said with a sparkle in her eyes, ’There arelots of wonderful things in life and I’ll explorethem all.’ But her distinguished smell, won’tallow to escape. Everyone will smell her. Thenshe’ll have to leave naturally without extrabuzzes. She stood in the middle of the bighive and announced, ’My dear honey bees. Ishall leave you today to search for a mate, andwhen I’m back I’ll lay my eggs and expand thebeehive.’
4
«Goodbye your majesty, happy honeymoon.»«Your scent shall remain to be among usuntil you’re back.» The worker bees weptand sobbed as they bid the queen goodbye,but Nectar the queen had her plans. Shewhispered, «You won’t ever see me again andyou won’t ever smell me again.» She smiledand said, «You’ll soon find yourselves a newqueen to lead you while I enjoy my timebetween almond trees and strawberries.» Thenshe waved a royal wave and she flapped herwings.
5
She flew and flew and enjoyed the wonderfulscents and beautiful view. She danced anddanced till she was hungry and tired. This iswhen nectar knocked on her head and said,«Oh my goodness! I can’t believe that I wenton a journey like this without taking any foodwith me and I’m the only one that can’t makehoney.»
6
She decided to go back to the beehive and takesome honey and run away again. She lookedaround. Did she fly towards the sun or theother way around? Did she fly to the right or tothe left? She can’t remember anything to helpher where the beehive is. She didn’t attend thislecture. It’s not her job anyway. She turnedaround and flew away.
7
She wondered if she she’ll find any clue toremind her of the way back home.
8
A lovely smell tickled her antennas and madeher drool. It’s the wonderful smell of honey.She saw it clearly.
9
«Yummy!» Nectar shouted. Then she dartedlike an arrow to eat some of it. She was surethat the child wouldn’t mind. Actually, herfriends are who made him this honey in thefirst place. Nectar buzzed as she came closer,but she heard themother hurrying towards herson with a huge towel in her hands.
10
She waved with the towel in the air but itaccidentally hit Nectar. Nectar was terrifiedand she blasted of like a rocket. She wasshocked as she said, ’What is going on here? Isall that for a spoonful of honey that we madewith our own bodies?!’
11
she lost her energy because she hadn’t eatenfor a while. So, she flew slowly, until shesmelled the scent of her favorite flowers.
12
Then she yelled, ’Lavenders. I must beapproaching my beehive! She hugged thelavenders and rested on its soft leaves beforemoving on.
13
Then she felt some slight vibrations thatgradually became more intense.
14
Suddenly she saw a tractor on its way todestroy all the lavenders one after anotheruntil it was her turn. Oh no! She screamed andflew away as fast as her wings could carry her.
15
Suddenly she saw a tractor on its way todestroy all the lavenders one after anotheruntil it was her turn. Oh no! She screamed andflew away as fast as her wings could carry her.
16
She survived with a miracle, but the heat of thetractor smoke hurt her. Now Nectar can hardlyfly. Now Nectar could hardly fly. Her stomachwas screeching from hunger and her chest washurting her from the smell. She lowered herhead and until she finally managed to see herbeehive. She yelled, ’Hive sweet hive.’ She wasso excited and darted off to the hive.
17
While she flew happily, she smelled one of themost terrible odor ever. When she stopped shefound millions of insects were running away asthey screamed, «Insecticides, insecticides. Runfor your lives»
18
The insecticide truck was spraying insecticideseverywhere. Nectar shouted, the beehive.
19
The insecticide truck was spraying insecticideseverywhere. Nectar shouted, the beehive.Suddenly she remembered the safety lecturesshe took in the royal hive. She said, ’I’ll have torun to the beehive. There’s no time, and theworker bees won’t do anything without theirqueen. instructions
20
She blasted off like a rocket until she finallysmelled her beehive. The workers also smelledher so some of them went out to welcome her.Once she saw them, she danced the immediateevacuation dance. The news spread quicklyand everyone was ready for the immediateevacuation of the beehive.
21
The bees flew in a great swarm guided by theirqueen. And when all the bees come together,they can do anything they want.
22
The bees voted for a new placefor their beehive far from towels, tractors andinsecticides. They worked hard to build it andmake it ready.
23
Nectar proudly said, I rescued my swarm.Saving missions are much more serious thanhaving fun collecting nectar andmaking honey.I think I’m so proud of my own mission!
24
THE END
25
Brought to you by
Let’s Read! is an initiative of The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asiaprogram that fosters young readers in Asia. booksforasia.org
To read more books like this and get further information aboutthis book, visit letsreadasia.org
Original StoryThe Queen, author: Samira Saidani . illustrator: Hanan Al-Karargy.Published by 3Asafeer,https://digitallibrary.io/en/books/details/1637 © 3Asafeer.Released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
This work is a modified version of the original story. © The AsiaFoundation, 2019. Some rights reserved. Released under CCBY-NC-SA 4.0.
For full terms of use and attribution,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
