How Long Is “Apis”?

This is a story about fear and fate, explored through the experience of both the victim and the perpetrator. A young woman home alone receives a call from a stranger, a young man asking her to the pictures. She declines but later finds the man with a knife standing in her dining room. He wants to have sex with her and seems confused about whether his intentions are brutal or romantic. Seeing his confusion and fear she talks him into letting her go outside to bring the washing. He holds his knife at her back – she realises she has no chance of escape. As they are walking back across the lawn to the house she is stung by a bee. She collapses. Weeping she tells him she is allergic to bees and convinces him to go inside to get vinegar from the kitchen to stop the swelling. As soon as he is out of sight she is up and running in one fluid movement. The intruder is left standing desolate on the lawn with the vinegar bottle – his fantasy unravelled. We find him at the pictures alone.