48 | 3rd Place

In this field ripe with death, I flourish – bitter nectar draws them in. We play pretend it’s mutual, but they can’t help but need the buzz.

This story was awarded 3rd place in our 48 HOUR FLASH FICTION CONTEST. Much like humans, it appears bees can’t resist a caffeinated beverage. In 2015, researchers reported that bees may select caffeinated nectar over an uncaffeinated but otherwise equal-quality alternative. In fact, flowers may be lacing their honey with extra caffeine to attract the bees. Liz Duck-Chong creates a poetic take on this research, speculating about the dark intent of flowers. // Alex Massey
  
//Liz is a writer, guitarist and photographer. She can be found at @lizduckchong, or signing photographs of random celebrities.//