Once upon a time, a reader became a queen bee.

You recline on a soft patch of grass, your mind buzzing with thoughts of the day's events. Little did you know, it would be your last day experiencing the world as a human. The moment begins; you suddenly feel a strange tickle in your throat. Looking around, you notice no one in sight, but the sensation is undeniably present. Suddenly, you feel the touch of a transformation starting to creep in, subtle yet rapid. Your body is enveloped in a strange warmth. Your form begins to shrink, bit by bit. You feel an odd sensation of lightness, as if your body is less dense. Your skin shivers and takes on a new sensation. It feels rougher, thicker - an unsettling comparison to leather or chitin. You look down and watch in astonishment as your body starts to turn black and yellow, stripes forming across an abdomen that wasn't there before. It's a horrifying sight, yet there's something fascinating about it, something compelling. You can feel the gender change more keenly now. Your chest feels different – flatter, and yet heavier. The sensations are odd, and hard to explain as you’re transitioning into an entirely different species. The vague maleness fades while a strange femaleness erupts. Regardless of the physical changes, you sense you are becoming something important. There are responsibilities waiting for you. The landscape around you grows larger as you continue to shrink. Your clothes lay abandoned beside you; they are much too large now. You move slightly, testing out the new form, and are surprised to find you have more control than you anticipated. The multiple legs might be daunting for some, but for you, they are a source of power and mobility. Your jaw aches suddenly. You reach up reflexively and feel mandibles instead of lips, hard and menacing. But they are not repulsive to you. Instead, they feel...right. They feel like they've always been a part of you. With a sudden flicker of motion, two gossamer wings sprout from your now segmented back, fluttering nervously as if testing themselves. The touch of the breeze against them sends a tremor coursing through you, feeding your growing thrill of anticipation. Your eyes...they've changed too. They've grown larger, rounder. Everything is seen with a new depth, a clarity of focus that stuns you. You start to see in different colors, a range beyond human comprehension. The world looks so different now...so much more vibrant. The most profound change, you realize is not physical. Your thoughts, your motivations, your worries, your joys - they've all been replaced. Memories of your human life exist but only as vague, cloudy illusions. They feel distant and unimportant. Instead, your mind is occupied with thoughts of a hive, of worker bees that need supervision, of larvae that need feeding. As the sun sets, you take your first shaky flight into the world. The wind, the scents, the feel of pollen on your mandibles, the sight of a beautiful meadow looming ahead - it's overwhelming and yet, it feels perfect. You have completed the transformation; you have found your new place in this world. As a final sign that the change is complete, echoes of a human name fade. In its place, a new identity solidifies within your psyche: you are the queen of the bumblebees. Your reign begins.