Below the Backyard

CHARACTERS:

Aimee: a beautiful butterfly with attitude and heart

Bob: a beetle who enjoys being by himself

Phillip: a flea living on Sandy, the Robinson's dog

Stella: a bumblebee with more attitude than anyone; also called Goddess

Ricky: a dragonfly with seeing problems

Alfred: an ant with too many brothers and sisters to count; adventurous

Samantha: a centipede that is seen as unreliable because she's a girl

Caleb: a grasshopper that helps Alfred with his problems

Webster: a silk worm who loves skydiving off of the flowers in the garden

Mr. Robinson: the owner of the backyard

Mrs. Robinson: his wife, one who planted most of the backyard in the first place

Gregory Robinson: the only son of the Robinson's, loves entomology

Elizabeth Robinson: Gregory's younger sister, hates bugs; problem starter

CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING

"Bob?...Bob?...BOB!!" Aimee yelled. "Get your ole' dung loving butt out of bed and get out of the way! Mrs. Robinson's about to give you a run for your money!"

"I'm up, I'm up. What do you mean?" Bob asked, rolling onto his back. Aimee sighed and rolled him over with her delicate legs.

"She got a new hose. You thought you'd never seen water come so fast, well guess again. Here it comes everybody!" Aimee screamed. All of the flying creatures flew behind Mrs. Robinson while the other bugs were soaked. When the watering was over, Bob looked up at Aimee, who hovered just above the flower line.

"You were right," he whispered after squirting water out of his mouth. "So, what else is going on today?"

"I'm not sure yet, but let me ask Phillip. Sandy will be out here any minute to do his business, so you might be in luck and start early today," Aimee grinned, letting out a belly laugh a second later, and then flying away.

A distinct buzzing sound was then heard, along with a scream.

"Ahhh! I'm being attacked! Henry! Gregory! Get the hose on this beast!" Mrs. Robinson screamed. Laughter of the smallest kind could be heard from the flower bed, where the bugs were rolling over themselves in delight. The bee under question then flew to the tulips, Mrs. Robinson's favorite flower, and took a sip of nectar.

"So, how is everyone today?" Stella asked with a smile. "Ah, everyone is laughing. I take that my daily antics have amused you on this fine morning. I am proud of myself."

"We too are proud of you, Goddess," the group chanted, then continued on their laughing.

"Well, I'm glad you can stop for a moment and say so. Oh, here comes the children. Bob, get ready to do your duty. Sandy's about here and…you know the drill," Stella smiled.

"Yes, Goddess," Bob called to her. She grinned and buzzed away to listen to the humans converse over her actions.

"It attacked me! Oh, I was terrified!" Mrs. Robinson whispered. She was filled with trepidation.

"Mom, it was just a bee," Gregory sighed. "Besides, they only attack when they're provoked. Maybe you should've used the old hose like Dad wanted."

"But I want her to use that hose! Then we can play in the water!" Elizabeth pouted. Her mother put a hand on her shoulder.

"You won't be playing out here until the bee is gone," Mrs. Robinson smiled. "You're highly allergic, and there is just no way I'm putting my baby through that."

"But it's spring break, Mom. All the good things are out here for us, including the butterfly I want to add to my collection. I'm staying," Gregory said sternly.

"You're not allergic, boy, so go play," Mrs. Robinson replied. She then looked to her daughter. "There's a machine upstairs I want you to have a look at. We've much to do inside the attic."

The humans disbursed, but one human remained in the garden. Gregory, the oldest son of the Robinson's and the least understood, remained in the garden every day, mostly to collect glimpses of the bugs, but lately he was looking to catch one, a beautiful butterfly of the rarest sort. He wanted to catch Stella before school was back in session.

The bugs realized this and prowled along carefully, except for one group. The ants had an ant bed just past the backyard fence, and from there they journeyed into the garden to collect food for their queen. One ant was Alfred, a mere child considering how old his father was, yet strong, powerful, and too adventurous. He was put onto the assembly line carrying food back to the nest, and he hated it. He wanted to be an explorer, an ant who went searching for suitable places to move to. He wanted power, the kind that he would only have as an explorer ant. He was also a daydreamer, and because of his dreams, he was often on punishment of taking trash back into the garden.

On his journey into the garden for trash duty, he passed Caleb, a good friend of his that often gave him a lift, often bumpy, to the dumping area, but today Caleb was preoccupied.

"Caleb, what are you doing?" Alfred called.

"Shh. The human, he's looking for me," Caleb whispered. Alfred climbed onto a stalk of grass only to see a giant eye blocking the sun. He rolled down the stalk and landed on Caleb's head.

"Sorry, my friend, but you're right! There's a giant up there!" Alfred exclaimed.

"They are called humans, and this one is not friendly. He tries to catch us bugs," Caleb whispered. "You should leave before he finds the both of us. I'll see you on your way back."

Alfred nodded to his friend and carefully detoured around the human's feet. He then passed the birdbath, which is where he found another friend of his, Ricky. Ricky flew around the birdbath trying to land on the ledge, but he was having a lot of problems. Ricky did not have the best seeing abilities, and it showed in moments like these. Alfred stifled laughter as his friend fell from the ledge and into the water.

"Good day, Ricky!" Alfred called.

"Child, can you help me land on the ledge of this bath? I'm tired and my wings are wet," Ricky asked.

"Can't you see, Ricky? My arms and legs are all tied up with the colony's trash. I wish I could. Do you want me to find Webster? He could swing you onto the ledge with his silk," Alfred tried.

"Anything to get me from this cold water, Child. Webster is near the giant, I think. That's what Samantha said, but she's not too reliable," Ricky whispered.

"Why is she not reliable? I used her last week to carry my colony's trash while Caleb and I hopped around the tulip stalks," Alfred asked. Ricky shrugged and almost rolled face-first into the water.

"She's a girl, Alfred. Females are known to be unreliable, and they can bring more danger to this garden. The humans have males and females, and they're females are the ones causing problems with us all the time. The smallest giant is a girl, and the last time she played here in the spring, Stella was forced to sting her. The child had an allergic reaction and now Stella is wanted again for messing with the other human, her mother. Girls are just too dangerous!" Ricky ranted, almost rolling again.

"I'll talk with Samantha. Wait a second, Ricky. Stella is a girl and she is quite reliable. What about her?" Alfred asked.

"She's a goddess though," Ricky replied.

"Then what about Aimee? She's one of the worst out here about fights. Is she unreliable?"

"Sometimes," Ricky squeaked.

"Never is she unreliable. Your theory has a major loophole."

"I see that now, but Samantha is still unreliable. She's the only female centipede in the garden, yet there are no little centipedes. She must have something wrong with her," Ricky whispered. A rustling came from some grass near by. "Who's there?" Ricky called.

"The unreliable one," Samantha hissed. "I hope you drown, Ricky. You know I rescued you last time you swam."

"After five minutes!"

"It was five seconds, you moron," she whispered. She then turned to Alfred. "Would you like some help with the trash?"

"Certainly. I have another load, so I'll leave you to this one and meet you back at the trash pile in a few minutes," Alfred smiled, allowing Samantha to take the load from his back. He sighed with relief as Samantha nodded in understanding and left towards the trash pile.

"She's going to lose it," Ricky whispered.

"No sooner than you'll lose you head, ingrate," Samantha called back. "You forget how good my hearing is!"

"No, it's just habit to say something once someone leaves. Alfred? Are you there Alfred?" Ricky called. Alfred was long gone to the ant hill again. Ricky sighed.

"It looks like you're the unreliable one, Ricky! Alfred left as soon as I did! Get your eyes checked, weasel!" Samantha called. She then fell out of earshot of Ricky, who lay in the water. She quickly got to the trash pile, but there was more than trash there. Aimee lay behind the largest pile. "What is it, Aimee?" Samantha asked.

"The human! He's looking for me. He wants to add me to his collection. He wants to kill me!" Aimee cried.

"Not for certain," Samantha smiled. "Remember Raymond that flew through here? He was a butterfly from a professor's collection. Collections are often just places to meet other butterflies. Just play hard to get and he'll forget you exist, but if you're caught, he probably won't kill you. Just don't fight," Samantha advised.

"Easy for you to say. You're a centipede. You have no beautiful colors to attract the hideous humans. Stella is also being looked for, and they actually do want to kill her," Aimee whispered.

"The youngest was stung by her, so that's understood. You shouldn't worry about it. The human boy will be gone soon, according to Phillip's message from yesterday. Remember, he said something about school. I thought only the owls had it, but the humans do too, and it starts next week. If you can hang in there until then, you'll be fine!" Samantha smiled. "By the way, this is not the best hiding place. Alfred's coming back with another load in a few minutes."

"I know, I just got trapped," Aimee whispered. "I wish that Stella could give me more advice about this."

"She's got more problems than you, remember? They really do want to put her to death."

"It doesn't matter," Aimee cried. "We'll all die by the looks of it, and all because of humans!"

"You have no idea!" Stella called. "I just accidentally stung the girl again. She's okay, but…she found the ant hill. Alfred's fine and is with Caleb, who just barely escaped the boy, for now. They're calling the exterminator!"

"What?" Samantha asked. "Why the exterminator?"

"Alfred's colony is two thousand strong, and the recent destruction only ended this week's generation, but the family wants them all to be gone, and all of us too!" Stella exclaimed. "I have to tell everyone!"

She flew high above the garden and watched as the bugs gravitated towards the birdbath. Everyone sat on the rim and looked as Stella made sure they were not already being hunted.

"Attention bugs! We are going to be exterminated unless we leave this garden for good! We must find a suitable home within the next two days or risk termination thanks to my actions! The ant hill was destroyed, and from the message I received from the queen, they are moving across the creek using a suitable bridge! We too need a home if we wish to live! Are there any volunteers to help us find a suitable place?" Stella called over them.

Alfred smiled to himself. This was his chance to prove that he was the explorer he wanted to be. This journey would also be his first from the garden, and he knew that by volunteering, he could take help with him, possibly Caleb or someone else who was strong. Alfred smiled and called to Caleb, who jumped with Alfred hanging onto his back.

"Caleb, you wish to go?" Stella asked.

"Alfred wants to go! Alfred the ant!" Caleb corrected. "And I want to go with him!"

Stella buzzed over to just beside Alfred, who looked minute against the grasshopper and the bee, but he had a strong look in his eye.

"You wish to make this journey?" she asked. He nodded. "Are you certified in exploring?"

"No, but…I've always wanted to, but the queen, she refused, saying that I was just a dreamer and that hard work could pull me from my habits. Goddess, I really want to make this journey, for everyone. This is our home, but…we just have to find a new one," Alfred replied. Stella looked over the group.

"All in favor of Alfred and Caleb making the journey, say I!" she called.

"I!" the group replied loudly. Stella nodded and looked back to Alfred.

"Leave as soon as you have supplied. Webster! Go with them as a guide. You've seen much of this block, so be their sky support," Stella commanded. Webster nodded and jumped from his flower, making a perfect spiral as he stopped himself seconds before reaching the ground. He then broke off this thread and wiggled towards the two explorers. The group began disbursing to speak about the move with their own friends, but one bug stayed. Samantha approached the group of three.

"I'm going with you," she said sternly.

"Why?" Webster asked. "You've no business going with us."

"Hear her our, Webster. What are you coming with us for?" Alfred asked.

"The same reason as you, and…I want to let the group respect me. I'll carry supplies, and I can help burrow into the ground for safety. You need me if you want Caleb to hide underground with you, and I already know of a tunnel big enough for all of us. It leads to a concrete thing that the humans call a sidewalk. From there, we can see every yard on this block and the next one, I promise. Please, can I come with you?" Samantha begged. Caleb looked to Alfred then to Samantha.

"We would need someone larger to carry supplies, and you're the ma…woman for the job. Webster, help her secure the supplies. Alfred, you tell Stella while I eat some lunch. That human made me miss it," Caleb grinned. Alfred nodded in agreement, and the group went their separate ways. They were going on a journey together to prove to the world that they were capable of being strong.