Information

apiarist has a minion!

the Putrid Arania Bee

apiarist

The

Custom Graveyard Neela
Owner:

atempause

Age: 2 years, 7 months, 4 days

Born: September 15th, 2021

Adopted: 2 years, 7 months, 4 days ago

Adopted: September 15th, 2021

Pet Spotlight Winner
March 2nd, 2022

Statistics

Level: 1
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 10
HP: 10/10
Intelligence: 0
Books Read: 0
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Unemployed

a strange beekeeper

Every Sunday, your town holds a market at the square. You visit the market every Sunday to buy what new crops the farmers harvested, to admire new trophies of the hunters, to see what new the local artists have made. You buy fresh eggs and meat, bread and milk. Sometimes a gift or two for your friends and family if you see a trinket they would like. You are familiar with everyone offering their goods here. Everyone, except the beekeeper's girl.

She opened her stall only recently. It stands on the very edge of the marketplace, further away from everyone else. You don't often see people visiting her. In fact, you don't think she's ever sold anything. You personally, don't like honey very much, it's too sweet for your tastes. You never felt the need to browse through her goods.

This Sunday she's there again. Alone as always. You almost feel bad for her and so decide to at least have a quick look before buying what you need from others.

As you make your way towards the stall, you remembered all the rumors spreading around the town about her. They say she is a witch. The town was quick to judge outsiders unfortunately, especially the ones like her who keep to themselves without trying to prove the town wrong. You saw her collecting dead animals hit by passing cars a few times before. A little weird, sure, but definitely not as bad as the townspeople portray her.

You finally reached her stall. You say hello. It feels a little awkward talking to a mask that's covering her face. She always seems to be wearing the beekeeper's garb at all times, even when she's not working directly with the bees. Maybe she simply likes the privacy the mask offers. Who are you to judge. Though you would much prefer to be able to actually see her face, the mask is creeping you out.

You look around. Honey. It's all honey. Of course it is, what else did you expect to find? Packed in jars of various sizes and shapes. But it's the color that intrigued you. It is not the bright golden honey you know, it is dark red, almost black. You pause to wonder what kind of pollen are these bees collecting to achieve such unique color. You're not sure why are others avoiding her so much, there is nothing out of the ordinary here, just a beekeeper trying to earn a living. You hear the sound of bees buzzing around the stall. And then there's this smell. It doesn't smell too good, as if something is rotting. But honey doesn't expire, seems like one of the sellers from the other stalls took poor care of their goods and now their stock went bad under this summer heat.

Without saying a word she opens one of the jars, scoops up some of the honey, and hands it to you. She probably doesn't speak because it must be difficult to understand her from under the mask. You don't like sweets but don't want to be rude and reject her offer.

It tastes.. strange. It's not sweet at all. Almost savory in fact. It tastes like nothing you ever had before.

You return the spoon and thank her for the sample. You grab your bag, say goodbye, and leave the stall. There is so much you need to buy before the market ends and you already wasted too much time here. You feel watched by her as you make your way back to the stalls in the middle of the market filled with vegetables and fruits.

The unusual taste of the black honey still lingers in your mouth, long after you left the market. You can't help but almost like it. You decide to buy a jar the next Sunday.