A New Queen

Chapter 2

      At first, it seemed easily explainable. She could have carried a bee in her car on the drive home, too distracted to notice the buzzing sound that had certainly been there. It might have even found a way in yesterday.  It wasn't a big deal.  Not really.

      So why did she feel so uneasy?

      Breakfast had always been quiet for her. It didn't matter who she was with, Lauren would always be dead silent in the mornings.  But today was different. As she crawled out of her bed and made the slow descent down the old wooden stairs of her two-story house, the entire world seemed to be at max volume. Cars driving by, dogs barking, even the light creak of the stairs seemed like it could burst her eardrums. 

      After what seemed like forever, Lauren finally made it to the kitchen, dressed, settling for cereal, since she likely had no more than 15 minutes before she would have to leave to meet up with Kevin. 

      Because of the time crunch, she had no time to prepare her usual lunch of ramen and boiled eggs in a thermos. So, she instead decided on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Though she disliked the idea of having sweet things for lunch, there was no time to do anything else. 

      As she finished spreading the peanut butter onto the thin slice of bread, she noticed what looked like a thick hair protruding out of the thin layer of brownish slop. Sickened, she grabbed the odd object and winced when it broke skin, leaving a drop of crimson on her thumb. 

      The pain wasn't unbearable, just startling and slightly inconvenient.  She carelessly removed it and set in on the kitchen counter, trying to examine it while wasting as little time as possible. At first, she thought it was a shard of glass, or a needle, or something equally as concerning to find in peanut butter.  Even when she realized what it was, she still tried to deny it. It made her feel safer. More at ease. 

      And, even when she pulled out of the driveway, and thought about running red lights to ensure she made it on time, it still nagged at her. Voices whispered in her ear like some eternal wildfire she couldn't quell, slinging thousands of "what ifs" across her mind, where they spun around and around. No matter how loud she made the music, the thoughts and queries seemed to be louder. 

       The questions turned what was supposed to be a quick and easy drive into an eternity of hell on wheels, and by the time she finally got out of the car and into the market, the only thing she could think of was how that bee stinger could have gotten into her jar of peanut butter.