Once the first Buffalo broke through to the hive, it was swarmed all over with Keef. The other Buffalo then broke from their single file and made their way to the side of the first. They were swarmed over as well.

The Keef moved up their legs, onto their backs, into their shaggy manes and over their tail ends. The Keef swarmed everywhere, hundreds of them for each of the Buffalo, crawling, biting, chewing, and attacking the Buffalo until the Buffalo were not there, only a swarm of a moving black mass.

Still, the Buffalo moved on. All three dropped a little from view as they descended into the hive. We were above them and could still see them. The hive was enormous, so enormous it must have contained millions of Keef. The first Buffalo to reach the hive kept on in a straight direction, the two on each side began to fan out, appearing to seek the edges of the hive.

Then the first one dropped.

Author Bio: John L. Mitchell, Jr. is an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe on Rocky Boy’s Reservation in Montana. He has worked various jobs and trades, spending the bulk of his time in a futile attempt to understand creation. Today, while he has not given up on understanding, he has evolved to simply enjoy nature.