But no Cigar

Tell us about a time things came this close to working out… but didn’t. What happened next? Would you like the chance to try again, or are you happy with how things eventually worked out?

“Are you following me?”

“Sort of. If you remain still and don’t buzz around all the time, I could take a very good photo.”

“I am not a model for your camera, I am working on these flowers.”

“I noticed, but you don’t seem to be having any success. You buzz around from flower to flower.”

“I am a bee, it is my job. I might not earn a cigar for my work, but I am collecting enough pollen to feed a whole colony, including me.”

“I see, I thought you was collecting the pollen to fertilise the flowers, so that they would make more.”

“You think. That is only a side line, I am not Pestalozzi, I am doing this for the family.”

“If you keep still, I can take a photo.”

“I do not have time for photo tourists, I have better things to do with my time. You cannot eat photos.”

“But I can show everyone else how great you look when you are doing your job. Do you think I could have a pose from below.”

“For what reason?”

“To show everyone more of your wonderful legs with their nectar pouches.”

“But I am busy.”

“I know you are a busy bee, but you are a very good looking bee.”

“And who compensates for the pollen I miss whilst I am posing for a human photo?”

“But you can carry on afterwards.”

“I do not do afterwards, now go away and don’t bother me. I have finished with this group of flowers and have to move onto the next group. I still have space in my storage room for some more pollen.”

“You have a storage room?”

“On my legs. Look.”

“Got you.”

“You took a photo of my pouches.”

“Yes and very nice pouches they are. Do you still have room for more?”

“I think I will be buzzing home now to empty them, but I will be back.”

“Then I will wait for a few more shots.”

“Forget it. This patch is finished, I will move on to another place.”

“Hi Fred.”

“Hi Joe.”

“Anything left for me here. What’s that human doing with that camera?”

“She is taking photos.”

“Great, shall I smile?”

“No, you have no time You must be new on the job. We bees do not hover around or smile for a camera, we have work to do. Think of all those hungry mouths waiting for their food. Queen will not be happy.”

“Oh, queenie is never satisfied. She always wants more. She has done her job and now we have to feed them.”

“What about me?”

“Human go away, you have taken enough photos for today and are disturbing the process. You know what, go to the local shop and buy a jar of honey and take a photo of it, the finished product.”

So I left Fred and Joe to their work, although Fred had a heavy load to carry on the way back to his home. Joe had now taken over and was pollinating the remainder. Oh to be a bee, although there are really no rewards, except for a few photos in my camera.

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Creative Challenge 225 - On the Edge

"This is it" she thought "If you want to do the job, then do it properly. No second thoughts, the last chance of a lifetime". Morana knew what she wanted to do, there was no stopping her. She took a determined step forward and precariously lifted one leg over the iron banister. She held on the railng with her hands to keep her balance and pushed upwards to get the other leg to follow. The wind was blowing stronger, but not too strong. It was a gentle summer wind, almost refreshing.

Now she was poised on the edge, shaking a bit from the exhaustion of the climb and from the steep drop to the town square. Looking downwards made her nervous. It was now or never. She felt like a circus actor, balancing on the tightrope, surrounded by nothing. Suddenly she was startled when a large bird flew over her head and dropped a sample of his recycling process on her head. 

"Nooo, I did not bargan for that" uttering some words that her mother did not like to hear from her lips, but she did not care any longer. Morana was doing what she wanted to do, and not what her mother wanted. All her life she had to follow what the others said. The bird returned, circled around her head and made a neat landing on the railing next to her. Not exactly what Morana wanted, but it was ok, at least she was not alone in the most important moment. The bird started to make throaty noises, as if in sympathy with Morana's predicament. "Don't worry, I am with you now and we can both fly away together."

"No, I want to do this alone."

Suddenly she felt a movement behind her. She turned her head and saw a Japanese couple, tourists, with their camera ready and pointing. Not in the direction of the breathtaking view, but in her direction. They were speaking in their incomprehensible language and she was sure they were laughing, although she did not find the situation in the remote funny.

"Go away, leave me alone" she shouted in their direction. 

"What are you doing" were the next words she heard, loud and clear, from a uniformed man. Was it a policeman? No, it was the wrong uniform. It was the man that sold the tickets for entrance onto the tower. "It is not allowed to sit on the raililng. They are there for the protection of the public."

"Just leave me to do my own thing, please. I do not need any interruptions at the moment, or distraction." 

"Ok, miss, just take it easy. Don't move, Help is on its way. Just breathe deeply and relax, it cannot be that bad, nothing is that bad."

Morana was surprised at the change of tone in the ticket salesman's voice, suddenly with feeling.

Morana took her courage in her hands. It was now or never. She reached into the bag she had on her shoulders and opened the clasp. She took out her camera and made the photos of a lifetime, one after the other.

When the ticket salesman returned, he was accompanied by a doctor and two members of a rescue team dressed in their uniform of illuminating colours. Morana was then standing on the platform showing the Japanese tourist the photos she had taken with her camera, who were nodding in appreciation of the perfect results.

"Are you all right Miss?" asked the doctor. "Do you need help? Tell me your worries" and he carefully approached Morana and put his hand out. "Just give me your hand and I will take you down. I know that life has a lot of problems, but nothing is that bad."

"Sorry, I don't understand. My name is Morana Risk and I work for the local newspaper as their star photographer. At the moment I am working on a project called "On the Edge" and showing a series of photos that are taken from high altitudes. My only problems are the interruptions from people that don't let me get on with my job."