Que

"Good morning, sun!" I said happily, opening my bedroom window after waking up. "It's such a beautiful day today!"

I skipped to the kitchen and saw a note on the kitchen table. This is what the note said:

"Morning sweetie, I've left for work. There's food in the fridge if you get hungry; make sure to heat it in the microwave. Also remember to drink some orange juice, too!
Love, Mommy"

I sighed. Mommy left early again. I was used to this by now, but sometimes I wished she wouldn't be gone so much.

I got some bread and juice from the fridge and sat down at the table to eat.

"It's Sunday today, so what should I do? Hm..."

After I finished eating, I finally thought of an idea.

"I know; I'll go to the park today! It'll be fun!"

--

I happily skipped to the park. I sat down and smelt the flowers, listened to the cicadas chirping (they're bugs), and felt the breeze raise up the hair covering my forehead.

"I love this place so much!"

I decided to climb a tree behind me because I wanted to look out at the whole park.

"Hupa~... I did it! I actually climbed it this time!"

"Cheep cheep!" said the birds.

"Be quiet, birds! You're so noisy!"

"Cheep!"

I sighed. "Jeez, they never listen..."

All of a sudden, I heard a strange noise. It sounded like it came from where the birds were.

"H-help me..." I think it said. I looked at the birds' nest to see where the noise came from to see who was talking. I couldn't find them, but I saw something else...

"A spider!"

It looked like the birds were cheeping at the spider and trying to peck at it.

"Leave the poor thing alone! It's not doing anything to bother you, so stop!"

"Cheep!" One of the birds tried to eat it, but I grabbed it just in time. This made me fall off the tree though, which hurt a lot.

"Ouchies..." I opened my hands, and saw the spider was okay. "That was close, little guy."

I found a safe place and let it go. "Be careful next time, okay?"

--

I know that seemed strange. I'm a 10-year old girl, and yet I like bugs. I think they're cute and interesting. All the other kids in my school think I'm weird, so I don't have any friends. It gets pretty lonely, but mommy always tells me that I should think positively.

It's too bad she's a bug exterminator. A "bug exterminator" is someone who kills bugs. I hate that.

Mommy tells me it's silly for me to like bugs. But I'm not going to listen to her, even though I know I'm supposed to. It's the one thing I will never obey, no matter what.

--

The next day at school, Ms. Emma taught us about multiplication. Ms. Emma's my teacher. She's really pretty and she's the only one who's nice to me, but I still don't get good grades in math. It's really hard.

"Okay class, you can go outside for recess now, but don't rush..."

"Yay!" All of the kids in my class ran outside in a hurry, even though Ms. Emma told them not to.

Ms. Emma sighed. "They sure have a lot of energy..."

"Ms. Emma..." I asked, walking up to her desk. "Can you help me with my math?"

"Sure sweetie, I'll help you later." She told me, with a kind smile. "But it's recess now, so go out and play with your friends."

"Okay!" I ran outside pretending to be happy, when I really wasn't.

How can I play with my friends when I don't have any...?

I looked down at the ground, sad. Then I saw something.

"Ants!"

There were a bunch of ants eating a potato chip on the ground.

"So cute! Are you guys having your lunch?"

I was enjoying watching the ants eat, until something came and started crushing the ants.

No! Who could do such a horrible thing?!

It was a foot. But not just any foot; it was Jay's foot!

"Take that, stupid ants!"

"Stop it, Jay!" I grabbed his leg, keeping it away from the ants. "You're hurting them!"

"Who cares?" Jay kicked me away. "They're just stupid bugs, you bug freak!" He walked back to his friends, chuckling.

"W-why do have to be so mean, Jay! I hate you!" I started to cry. "Waaah!"

I sat there and kept on crying until the bell rang.

--

"Why does everyone have to be so mean to poor little bugs?" I said to myself after I got home. "They don't do anything wrong. They don't deserve it..."

All of a sudden I started to feel sleepy, so I sat down in a chair.

"Why am I so tired?" I yawned. "Zzz..." I fell asleep.

--

"Where am I?" Everything around me was blurry, and I felt like I was floating.

"Young lady, do you wish to help bugs?"

"Help bugs? Of course!"

"Because of your kindness towards bugs, I will grant you the power to communicate with them."

"Y-you mean I'll be able to talk to them?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Awaken, the new Bug Guardian..."

--

I woke up suddenly, still sitting in the chair.

"A-a dream...?" I sighed. "Of course, nothing like that could happen for real. I wish it was real though, being able to talk to bugs..."

"I wish I could do something to help you. You look so sad..."

"Don't worry I'm fine..." I replied, but realized there was no one around. "W-wait, who just said that?!"

"You can understand me?!" The voice came from below. I looked down, and saw a spider on my leg.

"Was it you, little spider? How are you talking?!"

"I've always been able to talk. Humans just aren't able to understand us."

"But how come I can understand you now?"

"How should I know? I was going to ask you the same thing!"

Wait; that dream... Could it have been real after all?

"I-I can talk to bugs!" I ran around the house happily. "I can talk to bugs! I can talk to bugs!"

"S-stop! I'm still on your leg!"

I stopped running and held the spider. "Sorry about that."

"So anyway... I came here because I wanted to thank you for the other day."

"Thank me? For what?" I asked the spider.

"For saving me from those birds. Remember?"

"Oh yeah! So you're that spider?"

"Yeah, that's right. So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to talk to other bugs?"

"Of course!" I got excited again. "What kind of bugs should I talk to next? This is going to be so much fun!"

"H-help us..." All of a sudden, I heard little cries from far away.

"What was that?"

"I didn't hear anything." The spider said, after climbing up to my shoulder.

"C-crushed... By f-foot..."

"Foot?" Just then, I remembered what Jay did today. "The ants! They need my help!"

I ran out of the house as fast as I could.

"H-hey! Where are we going?!" The spider asked me, holding onto my sleeve.

"My school!"

--

I kept on running until I arrived at the schoolyard.

"H-here's the place..." I said, catching my breath.

"Please, someone help!" An ant said, whose voice sounded like a little cry. "Some of the ants are buried and can't free themselves!"

"I'll help, don't worry!"

"A human? You can understand us!?"

"Yes; I can talk to bugs."

"Ah, a spider!" A little ant cried out.

"Oh, I forgot! Spider, please don't eat the ants..."

"Don't worry, I'm a vegetarian spider." Spider said, as he dropped down to the ground. "I'll even help the ants, too."

"Thanks, but how are you two going to help us?" One of the ants asked.

"We'll just move the dirt with our arms."

"But my fingers will crush the ants." I told Spider. "I'll blow the dirt away."

"But that'll blow us away, too!"

"I'll blow softly."

I blew on the ants, which got rid of most of the dirt. Spider helped get the rest off.

"We're all okay, now!" The ants said happily. "Thank you, human and spider!"

"You're welcome."

"Are you the Bug Guardian?" The little ant asked.

"Bug Guardian?"

"The Bug Guardian was a kind person who was able to speak to bugs and help them when they were in danger." Spider explained. "Stories have been passed down about this person for generations among bugs."

"Really? How many generations?"

"I don't know; a lot. It's even considered a legend nowadays."

"The legend is true after all! The Bug Guardian has returned!" The ants all cheered.

"Heehee, I don't know about that~..." I blushed. "Oh no, it's getting late! I have to get back home."

"See you later, ants!" Spider climbed back on my shoulder.

"Bye!" The ants waved goodbye as I ran back home.

--

"Hey, Spider." I asked, in my room getting ready for bed. "Do you plan on staying here at my house?"

"I used to be a traveling spider, but I guess I'm getting too old for that now." The spider replied, sitting on my bed. "So staying in one place might be good for me. If you don't mind, of course."

"Of course not! Truth is, I don't have any friends..."

"Really? But you're such a nice person."

"Thank you, Spider." It made me really happy to hear that. "I just realized... I never told you my name, have I? It's Que."

"Que, huh? That's a really nice name."

"Thanks. What's your name?"

"Well, I don't actually have one."

"Eh, really? Okay then, I'll give you one. Hm, what name should you have..."

"I'm sure any name you think of will be a good one, Que."

"Que, honey?" Mommy called to me from her room. "You're not still up, are you?"

"Sorry, mommy!" I turned off the lights and went into my bed.

"Good night, Que." The spider said to me before falling asleep.

"Good night... Spidey."

End of Chapter 1