The Queen

HUBRIS CONTEST:

She relished her place at the center of the colony. All her needs were met. Her food was brought to her, as well for her nursing children. She had thousands of workers at her beck and call, digging, constructing, foraging. Mating took place whenever she felt the urge. Even her waste was disposed of for her.

Taken care of in this manner, was it any wonder that she could expect to live for as long as ninety years? Every day, nothing but leisure.

She thought herself fortunate, but all the other ants thought of her as nothing but a slave.

From Guest Contributor Wilson Edwards

Cannibal Snacks

The only store open at that hour was out of the first-aid cream I needed. Security cameras recorded what happened next. I ran amok in the chips and candy aisle, as if a slave to junk food. It was scary how much I could pack in. By the time the cops showed up, I was outside again and a cat had become just a red smear in the road. Someone recently asked me how I would describe red to a blind person. I shrugged. No one wants your honest opinion, ever. They may say they do, but they really don’t.From Guest Contributor Howie Good

Howie Good is the author of The Titanic Sails at Dawn (Alien Buddha Press, 2019)

Unwanted Eye Contact

He hadn't meant to glance up. It was just the sudden noise had involuntarily caused a slight eye motion. It was not a mistake he made often. He was just unlucky that today he found himself staring into her eyes.

He looked down immediately. Eye contact was a major breach of etiquette and he prayed she hadn't noticed. It could hardly have lasted longer than a few milliseconds. Perhaps if he pretended nothing...

The blow to the side of his head came suddenly. "I did not pay good money to the slave dealer only to be eye-raped by a human."