Early the next morning, as the sunrays finally pierced through the dense layers of fluffy clouds, they gently caressed a series of closed buds of purplish wildflowers. The light seemed to give them that final touch of care, urging them to bloom at any moment. All around, scores of butterflies hovered in eager anticipation.
The orchard was waking up, and with it, the lazy spirit of Sunday.
Underneath the flowerstalks, a group of ladybugs was extensively pondering over which leaf to start the chomping from, even though they all tasted the same and upon the half bent branches of the mango tree, the birds were chirping, going about their business of collecting trinkets for the nests, all in all, the morning was serene and calm.
But it was all about to change
Some distance away, a swarm of bees hovered and took position near the wall.
At first glance, they appeared to be ordinary bumblebees, but a closer inspection revealed a different story. They wore thick tactical goggles and menacing helmets that seamlessly merged with layers of protective clothing covering their entire bodies. A belt of gadgets circled their abdomens, complete with extra stingers for emergencies. These bees were not here for the usual purposes.
"Come in Nector#1," said a majestic bee that stood out from the rest, it had deep bluish armor type uniform.
"Nector#1 here, sir."
"Call the bird and move to the western checkpoint."
"Copy that, sir. The bird is called."
Soon, a frantic, eye-twitching, beak-broken crow streaked through the air and snapped into the window, the same window from which just a day ago, the girls had sneaked in the cloud, the strike was so loud that the window shook within the frame, the bird flew away, a moment later Ms Amna opened it and looked around.
Taking advantage of the opened window, the commander gestured and Two squadrons of bees sneakily moved in.
"Incursion successful, sir."
"Come in Nector#2." Commander spoke into his antennas.
"Nector#2 here, sir."
"Move north with your team and get ready for a cup of tea from our hosts." To this, all the bees giggled ominously.
They had studied the inhabitants well for days before this incursion, by now, the bees knew the exact routines of everyone.
Isra's father would go out for a hearty morning walk every day, including Sunday, at precisely 7 a.m. Just before that, her mother would get up to make
All of this was to free a prisoner, the bees had sent their elite squadrons to free the cloud.
It wasn't like he was their friend or anything, but they had been called. Their relation was more business in nature.
The bees sneakily moved around, activating a mechanism from their suits so their buzzing wouldnt be heard, then they picked and settled upon yellow and black things from the dining room, hiding perfectly in plain sight.
It was time to execute the flawless plan they had made, perfectioning it for days now, the plan even took in consideration all the personality types of everyone in the house so there really was no way it would fail.
It was to drop a bee into Isra's tea and wait until she'd panic and rush to the terrace, dropping it all in a pot plant. From there, the bee would be rescued by the medical team. At this point, the Nector#2 Squadron in the north would move in her room, search for the hostage, and rescue it.
Then Nector#1 would be told to engage as Nector#2 escorted the hostage out. And by then, MrSherjan would be out for a morning walk, In theory, no one would be strong enough to stand against two elite squadrons of the yellow and black ops. They'd simply let them out and even give them some biscuits and honey.
Noone had raised any questions against the plan only a single bee, but it was taken care of.
Nector#1 Squadron moved in swiftly and hid behind the TV. As the family settled around the dining table, they had no idea what was about to come. They all looked so peaceful.
"You know, Isra, she may have sneaked in another cat," said Mrs. Sherjan.
"We've been through this, Amna. Unless you see a cat in Isra's hand, she's clean," replied Mr. Sherjan, his tone as carefree as the wind. Isra smiled.
Haniya kept eating from Isra's plate, even though her plate was full, just to annoy her. Miraaj was looking at the TV, which was weird because it was shut off.
"Okay, I'm going. Who's gonna come with me today?" said Mr. Sherjan enthusiastically.
They all kept silent and pretended as if they didn't hear.
"Ah, come on. It's really refreshing outside. You guys will love it." He insisted but was met with silence.
"Fine!" Mr. Sherjan stood up and walked out.
It was time to execute the operation,
The commander gestured and a bee flew out from behind the TV, which was only some metres away from the dining table, but was instantly smacked down by a figure. Then another got smacked. Then three more. The whole squadron got frantic, but before they could do anything...
*SMACK! *SMACK
At some point, Miraaj had decided to leave the food and rush to the TV with a tennis racket. No one knew where the racket came from.
Then it happened. The eldest daughter of the Sherjan Family, Miraaj, the one that bees had declared extremely uninterested and coward and didn't even consider her to be a threat, had decided to go against her base nature somehow and smack the tiny bees down, the grotesque unmercy and action spread a sense of disbelief over every bee.
Just like that, a whole squardron was defeated.
Nector#1 was no more.
The mission had ended before it could even start properly.
"Abort, I repeat abort. Nector#1 has been done in. We're retreating." the commander of the bees spoke, this time, pain finding its way in his last sentence.
"We have lost some of our best bees. We will come back!"
and they all flew away with heavy hearts.
Another day of slavery had begun for the cloud.