⚠️ This story explores intense emotional themes and contains some disturbing imagery.
TONI
As I was about to head out to the garden, my phone rang. It was Derek’s office. Weird, I thought to myself. Derek would usually just call me from his cell. Curious, I answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi Toni. It’s Natalie from CR Robinson. Sorry to bother you, but I need to tell you something. I debated whether or not I should share this information, since it’s none of my business. But if I were in your shoes, I would want to know. I’m so sorry to be the one who has to do this, but your husband Derek is having an affair. With Veronica, his assistant. I just found out, but others in the office have known for a year now. It’s disgusting, and I thought you should know.”
“Okay… Thank you for letting me know,” I replied.
“Again, I’m so sorry.”
“No, seriously. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Take care.”
I hung up the phone as tears began to build in my eyes.
The words hit me like a slap. Sharp. Disorienting. Impossible to ignore.
How could I have missed the signs?
He’s been so distant lately. Gone all the time. I thought he was working overtime for us, saving for our future. The future I believed we both wanted. The one where we’d travel the world for a few years before starting a family.
I even offered to get a second job to help with money, but he refused. Said I shouldn’t be working at all. Said that once we had children, my job was to stay home.
I always dreamed of becoming an author, but I put that aside to focus on us.
I lost touch with all of my friends because of him.
I devoted the past thirteen years of my life to him. To his needs. His dreams.
I gave everything while slowly packing away pieces of myself.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
The scream tore out of me before I even knew it was coming.
I dropped to my knees, as if my legs had suddenly forgotten how to stand.
For a while, I just stayed there, crying in silence, stunned and unable to move.
I’m not sure what happened.
One moment I was on the ground, falling apart. The next, I stood up.
I wiped the tears from my face and pulled myself back together—at least on the outside.
Then I grabbed my sunglasses and headed out to the garden, just like I’d planned.
The sun was high and bright, too cheerful for the way my insides felt. But the garden didn’t care. It just breathed quietly around me, green and blooming, untouched by what I had just heard. I walked past the zinnias, roses, and dahlias. The wind shifted, and I heard the soft, persistent buzzing.
Carpenter bees. Big, slow, black-bodied beauties hovering near the wooden fence. Most people found them irritating, always worried about the holes, but I never minded. They were peaceful. Focused.
I looked them up once and learned it’s the females who do the tunneling. They carve out perfect little chambers inside the wood, shaping a safe place to lay their eggs. They even get to choose whether the egg becomes male or female. Something about that stuck with me.
They moved with purpose, weaving in and out of the fence like they belonged there. Tireless. Gentle, even with their hum. Sometimes, they hovered near me longer than usual, as if they recognized me. Or maybe they just knew I wasn’t afraid. Either way, they never stung. Not once.
I stood there for a long time, watching them disappear into the holes they had drilled.
Then I heard Derek’s car pull into the driveway. I didn’t move. With the hose in my hand, I just watched as he parked, got out, and walked toward the backyard.
“Hey, baby. How’s the garden looking?” he asked as he kissed my cheek.
I stood there silently, just looking at him.
“Babe? Hello? Earth to Toni.”
“Did you ever bring Veronica home and fuck her in our bed?”
“Excuse me?” he said, like he didn’t hear me right.
“Have. You. Ever. Fucked. Veronica. In. Our. Bed?” I asked again.
“Why would you even say something like that?” he said, blinking too fast. He ran a hand through his hair and laughed, but it was thin, uneasy.
“Answer the question.” I said calmly without loosing eye contact.
“You’re out of your mind. Can we just go inside so you can cook dinner already? I’m starv—”
I didn’t let him finish.
The nozzle was still in my hand.
It only took one swing.
DEREK
Darkness pressed against my eyes, thick and suffocating.
A sharp sting throbbed at the back of my head.
Noises buzzed faintly, distant and muffled, like I was underwater.
I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open or shut. Something soft was tied over them. Fabric maybe. I could still feel the sunlight though, bleeding through the cloth, too bright to ignore. I could hear the breeze. Leaves shifting. And underneath it all, the faint smell of roses.
I was outside. I was in the garden.
My mouth was dry and gritty, the taste of soil sharp and bitter on my tongue. I was gagged with what felt like gardening gloves. My arms and legs were bound tight, pinned down. Panic burned through me as I struggled against the zip ties.
And then all I could hear was buzzing.
At first, it felt like an itch under the skin, buried too deep to scratch. Then something pushed. Forced its way in. A dull, grinding pressure followed by sharp, wet heat. I could feel the tunnel forming, the way they bored through muscle like I was made of soft wood.
I tried to scream, but the noise didn’t go anywhere. It stayed trapped in my skull, echoing back at me.
I could feel movement inside me. Not just crawling, but digging. Slow. Methodical. I felt it all over—my arms, my legs, my back, my neck, my cheeks, my chest.
I just wanted it to stop.
How do I make it stop?
What is this?
I tried to scream again, but nothing came out.
As something began to crawl along my ears, I heard the crunch of footsteps on gravel. Slow. Careful. Getting closer.
The cloth over my eyes shifted, lowering just enough for light to break through. I squinted.
Toni was squatting down, just looking at me.
She didn’t say a word. Just stared while I squirmed, trying to break free from the zip ties.
Then she put on her sunglasses.
In the reflection, I saw them.
Carpenter bees.
Suddenly the pressure in my ears spiked. I could hear it—faint at first. A soft, chewing sound, like something gnawing through fruit. Then it deepened, wetter, more deliberate. Scrape. Grind. Scrape. I felt the grind deep in my jaw.
In the reflection of her sunglasses, I saw it.
A neat, round hole in the soft flesh of my earlobe.
Then, movement.
A black head began to push through from behind.
Slow. Calm. Like it belonged there.
Its antennae flicked out, testing the air.
The bee had burrowed into my ear.
And now it was coming out.
Toni smiled and stood up.
The hose hissed softly as she watered the garden.
LOVE this, buzz buzz!! 🐝