Ants trailed through the kitchen after the funeral. He felt too cauterized to care until he noticed they all had her face, so he followed them down, past the cabinet, beneath drywall, into doleful earth.
The queen was regal, acidic. Behind her his wife stood grub-like, features blank.
"Give her back to me."
A formic shrug. "If your trail's good, she'll follow. Don't look behind you."
He climbed. Drones blocked the exit.
"She's dead," one said. "There's nobody there." The voice came from above, disembodied. "You're dreaming."
He wouldn't believe them. His trail was good. He reared, prepared to fight.
Author bio: Rhonda Eikamp is originally from Texas and lives in Germany. Her stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Perihelion and Lightspeed's "Women Destroy Science Fiction." She recently expanded her 101 Fiction flash "Frozen" into a short story, printed in Ice, from Horrified Press.
Myrmecophilous is part of 101 Fiction issue 9.
Love this, Rhonda!
ReplyDeletevery cool !!
ReplyDeletedronezie