Finally, I am free. I am an adult ready to take on the world. The first 3 stages of my life were easy but now I must do my job. I must provide for my family, and I must do it without a husband or without any man for that matter. There are no males here to help me. The only thing the males around here do is eat, drink and have sex. However, all the other workers, all female, and I are more than willing and able to accomplish what needs to be done.
The word comes down and I see we are ready for our first adventure. Although I am young and it is not normally allowed, I am picked to go on this expedition. Usually, us younger adults are made to stay at home and care for the younger ones. I feel privileged to be chosen to go with the older group. I am told that there is a sweet reward waiting for us at the end of this campaign.
It is late in the morning, and I understand a lot of our enemies are still asleep at this time, but not all. Some could be out there, waiting. Waiting for us to make our move and then try to stop us. But we will not be frightened. We are part of a large working force called “cathemeral” and we will do whatever, whenever to get the job done.
We assemble together and then we leave our home, ready to take on the world. We instinctively know which way to go. We must travel into the dark green forest. Most of our group are seasoned travelers and this is all routine for them. For a few of us making this trip, our first trip, we do not know the dangers. This forest must be filled with all kinds of creatures and obstacles that could be near impossible to get by. I believe in our group, and I believe we will succeed in our quest.
Although the sun is shiny brightly it can barely be seen through the tall greenness and multicolored leaves above.
We are to travel in column, one after the other to keep an eye on the one in front of us. If something happens to her, then we are to sound the alarm for the others to assembly at that location and try to resolve the problem. Maybe even have to fight to protect the rest of the column.
At first the trekking is easy. There is a lot of foliage, but we manage to get through without a problem. As time goes on, I begin to see things so different than back at home. There are different sounds and different smells. These things do not deter us though as we continue on our quest.
Then we have our first big diversion. It is a large pile of a vulgar smelling substance that is unknown to me. It is covered with flies. They are buzzing around, and they seem to be having a good time. I’m happy for them. As long as they do not try to interfere with our journey there will be no problems. A few of them came buzzing by but I think they are just observing us to determine if we are a threat. We are not a threat to them. In fact, I’d like it better if they were not there at all. Moving around that big pile of smelly shit, whatever it was, we continued, undeterred.
After traveling for about 15 more minutes, we encountered a strange sound in the distance. It sounded like a motor of some sort. At first the sound was very far away but seemed to be getting closer and louder by the second. It became very deafening in only about a minute. Then we all felt a strong wind with lots of green flying by and over us. It seemed like the forest was being destroyed. Then we heard another sound, a voice. After the voice sounded, the motor stopped. A large creature, a giant walked by, nearly stepping on me and several of my friends. Luckily, it just missed us. All was quiet again; everyone was fine, and we continued on our excursion.
Shortly after beginning again word came down from the front that our destination was in sight. Through a small hole in the forest, our destination could be seen. In just a few more minutes the front of the line would be there. There will be no time to dapple. We must do what we came for and head back to our home.
Finally, the front of the line has reached the target. They begin working. One by one, as we arrive, we all begin working. I am far down the line and before I can get there, I see others from the front of the line, heading back home already. They are all carrying something. I figure when I get up front, I will know what to do. I was right. When I got up there, instinct took over. I stop for just a second to look at this massive object that we traveled for far to acquire. It smelled so good, so sweet. Then I understood about what I was told, “a sweet reward waiting for us”.
Getting right to work, just like everyone else, I grabbed my share and followed, in column, heading back to our colony, our home.
We made it back home without incident except we did have to deter around the smelly fly pile again. When I arrived back, I was curious as to what it was that we retrieved. I asked one of the old timers and she told me it is called a cinnamon bun.
Being so naive, I was wondering when my next adventure would be. Not knowing that it would be now. We need to go back to this “cinnamon bun” get more of it and bring it back. We will continue doing this until the cinnamon bun is gone.
Thus begins my life in the colonies, working hard for my queen.
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Howdy y’all. It’s me, ninong7 aka UJ aka John. Just a short intro about myself. I am a Texan that has retired in the Philippines. I moved to the Philippines with my wife back in May 2010. I am retired from the US Air Force. The music I like is mostly Classic Country and Classic Rock. I guess you could say that I am “Classic”. I play dominoes when I can find someone that will play, I play chess, cribbage, spades, hearts, Empire Builder, Rail Baron, Acquire and a few other games. I like to write poems and stories (although pretty novice) and I love learning about history, just about any history. I’m at home on my computer a lot but if I could afford to, I’d be traveling and documenting my travels to post in my blog. I hope to get to know a lot of you through PeakD and Discord.
