Our Hive of Activity had no thought for Vanishing Bees

 ‘Why did all the bees go away, Mama?’ she asks me in her tiny, scared voice.

I could tell her we didn’t know. But the truth is, we did. We just didn’t want to. We turned a blind eye even though it was unfolding right before us. The fear of changing drove us to abandon ourselves and our fellow humans because it was easier than facing the reality. The giants who ran the world were invincible. They kept taking.

By the time we saw the truth, we were powerless. Trapped in a monster of our own making. We’d gone too far, pushed her to the limit and now she was angry. That was when we realised just how small we really were.

She fought with storms, heat and ice so violent that we were left with nothing but a wasteland. Hurricanes. Floods. We didn’t stand a chance. Darkness closed in and left me alone with all my pain, because now I can feel so much. Grief for all I lost, but anger too, at the lies we were fed and with myself because I swallowed them. Those who told the truth, screamed it, begged us to listen had their cries fall on deaf ears. My deaf ears. My shame.

I know the answer, but I can’t bring myself to say it. I can’t face seeing the disappointment in her eyes.

Why did the bees go away? Because we didn’t do anything while we had the chance. And now we’ve paid for it. Dearly.

By Tirzah Hutchinson-Edgar
Published in The Sunday Times

13 Decembetr 2020