Curated by Lee F. Mindel, FAIA in collaboration with Southern Guild
Galerie56, New York City
April 30, 2024 - July 20, 2024
NO BATS, NO CHOCOLATE!
Galerie56, New York City April 30, 2024 - July 20, 2024
“No Bats, No Chocolate” is the eighth selling exhibition at Galerie56, a platform conceived to celebrate the intersection of art, architecture and design. The solo exhibition, featuring works by South African artist Porky Hefer, marks the second collaboration between Galerie56 and Southern Guild.
Porky Hefer’s handcrafted seating environments invite a physical and emotional connection that places humans in communion with—rather than dominion over—the animal kingdom. The eight inhabitable sculptures presented celebrate the intelligence and ingenuity of wild creatures, from the “swarm intelligence” of Africa’s migrating wildebeest to the self-regenerating teeth of the beavers. Despite their ominous associations, bats have endearing characteristics: they all have bellybuttons, and in two species of old world bats, the males produce milk to feed their young. The flying mammals are responsible for pollinating many plants used for medicinal, cultural and economic purposes, including bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, and cacao.
The message of constructive coexistence with nature is born out of Hefer’s design methodology, which he refers to as “a new kind of animal architecture”. Each sculptural form is an invitation to play as a means to ignite a more creative and humane way of relating to our environment and each other. In this regard, Hefer’s forebearers are the Radical Design Group of thinkers, architects, and designers for whom play was paramount in opening up new types of social interactions. His soft rebellion takes this even further with his embrace of local materials and craftsmanship, creating a system of collaborative manufacturing that spotlights the artisanal talents around him. The works in “No Bats, No Chocolate” were made with contributions by long-time Cape Town collaborators; felt artist Ronel Jordaan, welder Wellingston Moyo and leatherwork studio Leather Walls.
Cradled within their plush interiors or energized by their unconventional forms, we rediscover the child within, emerging with a renewed sense of curiosity towards the natural world.
Porky Hefer was born in 1968, in the era where Radical Design emerged with Futurist-designed environments and objects that were more than a chair or a table—pieces that would assault your eyes and also your spirit. It was during this time that Wendell Castle and Joe Colombo made units of self-sufficiency to isolate and change experiences completely. It opened up horizons and possibilities that fulfilled more than simply a basic need to sit.
Fascinated by the reactions and energy a piece can generate in a space, Hefer embraces Africa and the skills and processes that are readily available indigenously, rather than trying to emulate foreign processes. Making use of traditional techniques and crafts that focus on the hand rather than machinery, his work ensures that age-old skills are preserved and kept relevant in a modern age.
Hefer has had numerous solo presentations of his work and is a twotime winner of the Design Foundation’s Icon Award. In 2023, Hefer presented his fourth solo exhibition with Southern Guild, Volume IV Chaos Calamus – Interspecies Reciprocal Altruism. In No Bats, No Chocolate, Hefer makes a serious plea through humor and fantasy for greater tolerance of and reverence towards wild species, whose numbers are being outpaced by the proliferation of domesticated animals.
With trademark humor, Hefer invites his audience into the belly of the beast: the crocodile’s cavernous mouth stands agape, lined with cozy sheepskin and rimmed by a row of spiky leather teeth. A prolific sketcher, Hefer’s intention with this collection was to bring his drawings to life, retaining the animated quality of his hand-drawn lines, here emphasized by the work’s accordion stitching. His crocodile eschews menace, creating space for wonder at its unique characteristics. As an apex predator, they are considered a keystone species because they have a disproportionate impact on their environment relative to their population size. They regulate prey populations and help maintain the balance of the entire food chain.
Hefer offers these fascinating facts: “Over the course of their lifetimes, crocodiles will replace each of their approximately 80 teeth up to 50 times over. Believe it or not, they often shed tears while they eat their prey, albeit not an expression of regret - hence the phrase ‘to cry crocodile tears.’ They can hold their breath underwater for more than an hour, and sleep with one eye wide open.
PORKY HEFER
Crocodylus Freddy (Previously Crocodylus Eugenie)
2015 Leather, steel, sheepskin
From its tassel-covered body and tiny limbs, to its delicately veined ears and pert nose, Warren is handcrafted entirely from felted wool. Here, Hefer has chosen to focus on the smallest and most endangered primate: the bushbaby or galago, also known in South Africa by its Afrikaans name, nagapie (meaning “night monkey”). Found only in Sub-Saharan and East Africa, the animal gets its name from its human-like laughing calls and cries at night. Warren’s predominant feature is a pair of saucer-like eyes large enough for an adult or two children to crawl through. In real life, a bushbaby’s enormous forward-facing eyes are so big in relation to its head that it cannot move them in their sockets. If they want to shift their gaze the have to turn their whole head. Consequently, they can look directly backwards over their shoulders.
Bushbabies’ ears can rotate independently like radar dishes to focus on sounds from prey, enabling them to track insects in the dark and catch them in flight. When leaping between thorny bushes, bushbabies fold back their ears to protect them and when sleeping, they flatten them against their heads to help keep their surroundings quieter. Other adaptations include a specialized middle finger that is elongated— similar to a comb—to groom their fur and extract insects and tree gum. These creatures mark their territory by urinating on their hands, spreading their scent as they leap around tree to tree.
PORKY HEFER
Warren
2024
Felt, steel, castors
Diminutive in comparison to its fellow animals in this series, My First Beetle heroes the tiny ladybug whose perfectly round form and eye-catching spots have captured children’s imaginations for generations. In many cultures, they are considered a sign of good luck and are associated with protecting the spirit from danger and negative energy. Legend has it that the “lady” in their name dates back to the Middle Ages, when farmer’s crops were being damaged by swarms of aphids. Their prayers of help to the Virgin Mary were answered by the arrival of thousands of ladybugs, which ate all the aphids. From then on, the farmers referred to the insects as “Our Lady’s beetles.”
The bug’s bright colours are not for looks alone—they are meant to warn would-be attackers that it tastes terrible. Another defence mechanism is that they are thought to play dead when approached by a predator. Whilst hibernating during winter, they cluster together in a giant cuddle to keep each other safe and warm. The title of this artwork is a playful reference to the artist’s first car—a red Volkswagen Beetle that he was allowed to drive as a child on his family’s farm. Like a large toy vehicle, the sculpture is designed to be occupied by a seated figure but its interior is roomy enough for smaller bodies to curl up inside.
PORKY HEFER My First Beetle
Leather, steel, sheepskin, timber
The large standing form of Robert Nesta is covered entirely in hand-felted wool, from the flat expanses upholstered over its body to its carefully curved horns and hairy mane. Climbing through the circular portals, the sitter finds comfort and seclusion inside the animal’s sheepskin-lined form, with porthole-like openings for visabilityor tiny bodies to wriggle through. The gnu (as it is known in North America) is named after reggae pioneer Bob Marley (full name Robert Nesta Marley)—Hefer’s “all-time favourite muscician and life influence.” In South Africa, the animal is known as a wildebeest (meaning “wild beast” in Dutch) and is a common sight in game reserves. The annual migration of more than 1.5 million wildebeest in Tanzania’s Serengeti is regarded one of the “SevenWonders of the Natural World.”
Covering around 1,600 km a year, wildebeest herds possess what is known as “swarm intellegence,” meaning that they share information and make collective decisions about their movements, overcoming threats and thwarting prey almost as a single organism would.
Hefer points out some unique navigation tactics: “They use cloud formations for orientation, as storm clouds can be seen at great distances. They can also detect thunder showers from afar, predicting them with their delicate sense of smell and hearing.”
PORKY HEFER
Robert Nesta
Felt, steel, sheepskin, timber
The most abstract work in no bats, no chocolate is also the most indicative of Hefer’s interest in Surrealism. Victor is named after Victor Vasarely, the grandfather of Op Art whose 1937 work, titled Zebra, is considered to be one of the earliest examples of the movement. The animal’s trademark stripes become, in Hefer’s mind, a device for play and illusion, reminiscent of a whirligig toy. He was inspired by Alexander Calder’s iconic kinetic work, The Circus, a recreation of a circus ring with small wire sculptures performed by the artist. Sitting on the timber castors, Victor is a sculptural pull-toy that can be moved around from room to room if the user so desires.
The work’s streamlined, headless shape and spiral pattern gesture towards the idea of speed; zebras, Hefer notes, can reach speeds up to 65k/h (40mph) when galloping - fast enough to outrun their predators. Just like their horse relatives, zebras are able to sleep standing up by locking the joints in their knees. This enables them to wake up quickly if the need to flee arises. They communicate with each other, and pressing their ears up when threatened.
PORKY HEFER
Victor 2024
Leather, steel, castors
Named after the artist’s red-headed son, Tao is a luxuriantly tactile suspended seat handcrafted from leather and sheepskin. The work’s playful proportions and plush materiality dispel conventional assumptions around bats as ominous creatures of darkness. Intimate, intriguing and inviting, Hefer’s interpretation calls to mind a confessional with its arched opening and concave nook. The effect is further heightened by a pair of folded wings; their triangular tips delineating exterior from interior, the latter lined with brushed sheepskinin a deep shade of vermillion.
Hefer shares some of the animal’s lesser-known qualities: “The only mammal capable of flight is the bat. Often mistaken to be blind, they have colour vision which allows them to find ripe fruits more efficiently. They don’t use their teeth to chew; instead they pierce the fruit and use their long tongue to draw out the contents. Being mammals, all bats have belly buttons. Rather curiously, the males are also capable of producing milk, so both parents can contribute to feeding their young.”
Without bats, say goodbye to chocolate, bananas, avocados and mangoes. Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination. Bats help spread seeds for nuts, figs and cacao - the primary ingredient in chocolate.
PORKY HEFER
Tao 2024
Leather, steel, sheepskin
Hefer exploits the heavyweight form and sloping back of the walrus to create a chaise-like shape on which a figure can climb, lounge or sit. Continuous panels of hand-stitched leather create a smooth, even surface that invites touch and movement across it. Hefer’s design emphasizes one of the animal’s defining characteristics - its long tusks, which give the animal its scientific name, Odobenus Rosmarus (“tooth-walking sea-horse”). Walruses use these appendages like ski poles, digging them into sand, snow and ice to lift their enormous bodies out of the water, as well as to smash through ice from below, creating breathing holes while swimming.
The artist points out other ingenious adaptations: “Walruses can sleep underwater thanks to their large air sacs in their throats. They can fill these pouches with over 10 gallons of air, enabling them to rest in a vertical position and avoid drowning with the help of their portable pillow. They have devised a way to eat mollusks by creating a seal with their lips and using their tongue to produce a vacuum that sucks the meat directly out of the shell. Male walruses are also wonderful singers - their serenades can go on for up to 65 hours at a time. They make all sorts of strange noises under water, including knocks, barks taps, clicks, rasps, grunts and bellows.”
PORKY HEFER
Paul 2024 Leather, steel
These unusual seating objects convey Hefer’s unconventional approach to functionality, which he describes as “a new kind of animal architecture.” Their design invites various modes of interaction with the human body: covered in sheepskin, the beavers’ forms can act as plush ottoman seats on which to perch or backrests to lean against if the sitter chooses to lounge on the quilted leather pads of their tails. Hefer’s choice of titles - Maria and Kevin - pay homage to two influential lecturers from his graphic design degree at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
PORKY HEFER
Kevin 2024
Leather, steel, sheepskin
While beavers are sometimes seen as an annoyance because they chew down trees and block up streams that can lead to flooding, the artist describes them as “ecosystem engineers” responsible for an impressive level of biodiversity in the areas they live and build dams. Their front teeth are often described as white, but they are closer to orange in colour. This is from the high amounts of iron they contain, which enables them to gnaw through tree trunks. Because the orange enamel on the front of their teeth wears away more slowly than the white dentine on the back, a beaver’s teeth self-sharpen as it chews on trees.
PORKY HEFER
Maria 2024 Leather, steel, sheepskin
A Short Story by 2024, Age 11
Introduction
“So, he brought you here, too,” the croc said.
The walrus nodded. “Yes. The name’s Paul.”
“Crocodylus Freddy. Or Freddy. I would shake your flipper, but.” Freddy waved his tiny foot hidden by his enormous head, his inconvenient position making it impossible to greet his newfound friend.
Paul nodded. “I understand. Lots of the others have, well, strange bodies, to say the least.”
Freddy looked around. He was connected to the ceiling by a wire, and if he pointed his head towards a direction, he would slowly spin in a circle. Using this newfound method, Freddy viewed his surroundings. There was the monkey-mouse thing with huge eyes and head on a tiny body; there was the strange headless zebra on wheels; and then there was the gnu, not unlike a sideways, black, hairy penguin. There were others, too.
“What, may I ask, is that monkey-mouse thing?” Freddy asked Paul. The thing mentioned turned towards their conversation.
“Excuse me!” it said in a very high-pitched voice. “I am not a thing, but rather a them!”
Freddy apologized profusely. “I’m sorry, I just wasn’t sure if you were conscious of your surroundings as well.”
The monkey-mouse harrumphed. “We are all aware of our surroundings, you doofus. My name is Warren, and I am part of the honorable species of Galagidae, or, to the less educated, bushbaby, or galago.”
A pair of beavers by the front windows waddled over. “Hello, dear!” the one on the right said. “I’m Maria, and this is my brother Kevin.”
Freddy smiled toothily. “My name’s Freddy, ma’am. I’m new.”
Maria clapped her paws. “Really? Well, then, why don’t I show you around!” She was already bustling away, her large tail slapping the floor behind her. Kevin looked Freddy up and down, then silently climbed on top of him and unhooked him from the ceiling before hurrying after his sister. To Freddy’s surprise, he stayed floating in the air, and found that if he pointed his snout towards where he wanted to go, he would float in that direction. And so he hurried after Maria as well.
First, the beavers introduced him to a ladybug with a prim British accent. “Hello, my name is ‘My First Beetle,’ named after Porky’s first toy car as a child. You may call me ‘Beetle.’” She fluttered her wings elegantly and proudly flared her elytron.
“Hello, Beetle,” Freddy said. “Name’s C. Freddy, but you can call me Freddy. Nice spots!” They moved on.
Next was the gnu. He was solemn, taking careful steps and pausing to think for long stretches of time. (You couldn’t see his face; it was covered by long, shaggy hair.) “Robert, dear, this is Freddy. He’s new here, darling, so don’t you start with your lectures.”
Robert sighed a deep, slow sigh. “All right, Maria,” he said in a deep, slow voice. “But, young one, remember this: Always. Travel. In. Herds.”
Maria clicked her tongue. “What did I just say!” And before Freddy could say anything, Maria was hurrying away. With an apologetic glance and a quick “Bye!” at Robert, Freddy followed Maria and Kevin towards the headless zebra.
Before the trio reached him, though, Maria stopped completely. “Oh dear! I forgot to tell you. Victor is a bit all over the place. Try not to get too dizzy.” Freddy wondered why he would get dizzy.
Then he saw Victor.
The zebra was white with a black spiral stitched around his body, and had red and black wheels in the place of legs. He had no tail, and no head. “HellomynameisVictorit’ssogreattomeetyouyouhaveareallybigheadhowareyoufloatinghowcomeyoudon’thaveanyeyeballsbutIreallylikeyoubecauseyou’reniceandIcanproveitbecauseyouwon’tsaynotomeshowingyouhowfastIcangoIcangoreallyfastwouldyouliketoseeme?”
Freddy blinked. “Uh.” And just like that, Victor was off, zipping around the room three times.
“I think you beat your old record, darling!” Maria exclaimed. Kevin nodded and remained still. “All right, I think we should go meet Tao now.”
Victor drooped, but quickly perked up again. “Tao’s super nice! He’s the best bat, you’ll love him. What are your thoughts on mint chocolate chip ice cream?” Was Victor smiling? He had no head. “Anyway, nice to meet you, Freddy! You’re nice!”
And with that, Maria set off towards Tao. Freddy followed.
Tao was gray with vermilion fur, and was much quieter and very shy. “Hello,” he mumbled from behind his wings.
Maria softened around him. “Tao, dear, this is Freddy. I know you have a thing about crocodiles, but Freddy’s nice. He’d like to meet you, if you’ll let him.” Freddy smiled at Tao, who recoiled at the sight of his teeth. So he stopped.
Tao shook his head. “Not right now, Maria. Maybe tomorrow.”
Maria nodded. “Of course, darling. Goodday.”
With that, Freddy floated back to his spot, where Kevin silently hooked him back up to the ceiling. Maria stayed to wish him goodday. “I do hope you sleep well, darling.”
Freddy smiled at her. “Thanks, Maria. You too!” Freddy turned to Paul. “Well, that took a while.”
Paul nodded. “Yes. It did. Sorry about Victor. He gets excited sometimes, but you’ll get used to him.”
From across the room, Victor shouted, “Hey! I heard that!”
Paul chuckled. “Well, anyway, enjoy your stay. We’re all pretty friendly, and you seem all right.”
Freddy was getting drowsy. “Thanks,” he yawned before closing his eyes. When he was almost asleep, he heard Paul mumble something. “What?” he muttered. Then, he was asleep. Tao
“Tao? Tao. Tao!”
Tao groggily opened his eyes. “What? Where?”
A gray bat with bright purple fur was on the branch above him, calling his name. “You’re in the clinic,” she said, waving a wing around her. “You took a nasty fall back there. Hungry?”
Tao swung upright, and noticed that his wing was in a sling. “Yes. What happened?”
“You flew into a tree. Don’t you remember?” Luna said, bringing over a branch dripping with pink fruit. Now that she mentioned it, Tao did remember. Vaguely. He began to eat.
Luna filled out some paperwork, probably concerning his injury. When she had finished, Luna came over. “Time to go home now. You’ll be fine, you just have to rest. Don’t exert yourself, don’t fly without help, eat healthy. Got it?”
Tao wiped his mouth with his good wing, and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“All right. Let’s go.” Luna helped Tao fly home; when they arrived, she gently helped him onto their living branch. She settled him in, and said, “I have to go now. Rest, ok?”
Tao nodded again. “Ok.”
A few minutes after Luna had left, a strange creature bounced up and onto the branch. Swinging himself upright, Tao got a good look at it. It was a perfect sphere and covered in sky-blue hair, with a slit for a mouth and hazel eyes. It had no nose.
“Hello!” it said cheerfully. “My name’s Lee.” It was a she. Tao peered at her, and decided that he didn’t want to talk to this strange
creature. Lee continued, undeterred. “Shy? That’s ok. I’ll do the talking; everyone says I talk too much, but I like talking. Don’t you?” The blue hairy sphere-creature laughed, then started talking again. “Well I’ll tell you why I’m here. So, apparently you flew into a tree today? Well when you did, you accidentally opened an interdimensional portal, which connects to my dimension! I know, super cool, right? Anything can happen, right?”
Tao had never heard of an interdimensional portal, but he supposed that Lee was right. Anything could happen. So he nodded. Lee, happy about his response, continued. “I found the portal this morning, and my friends told me not to go in, but here I am. Didn’t know it would lead here and to you weird furry things, no offense. Life is full of surprises, right?” Suddenly, she glanced up at the sun. “Hate to end this conversation so abruptly, but it’s dinnertime. My mom’s probably looking for me, so I have to go. But it was really nice to meet you! What’s your name, by the way?”
“Tao. My name’s Tao,” Tao said. He surprised himself by feeling comfortable enough to talk, but he liked Lee.
Lee smiled. “Nice to meet you, Tao. I hope you come visit me someday.” And with that, Lee rolled off the branch and bounced onto the forest floor below, leaving Tao to wonder about something: How did Lee know he flew into a tree that day?
. . . Kevin
It was sunny out. Nice out. A day where sunbathing was a better idea than working, working, working, bustling, bustling, bustling. Which is all Maria did, all the time.
Kevin sighed contentedly and lay back, paws beneath his head. He was floating on the warm water by his lakefront home, the product of years of working, working, bustling, bustling. He deserved a rest.
Then, an unpleasant sight obscured his view. A purple hole swirled open in the sky, and a spherical, sky-colored creature fell out, screaming as it fell. Kevin jumped and dashed ashore to get out of the way. When the creature hit the lake, the splash was big enough to douse his home. His home that he had worked hard for years to make.
Kevin was angry. His one well-earned day off, when the weather was warm enough to sunbathe in, and Maria wasn’t there to
bother him—she was collecting wood in the forest—was being interrupted. Kevin swam over to the creature. He would glower at it (which would have to suffice, since words were almost always unnecessary).
But before he could, the creature popped up to the surface of the water, somehow floating without any arms or legs.
“Hello!” it said. “I’m Lee! I’m a tullyop. What’re you?” Kevin chose to remain silent. “Shy, are you? Well, that’s ok. I’ll do the talking. All my friends say I talk too much, but I like talking, especially to exciting new people I’ve never seen before or even heard of! Don’t you?” Lee laughed. “Well, I guess not, Mr. ‘I’m so strong and silent, I don’t wanna talk to anyone.’” Lee laughed again. Kevin decided to show his disapproval by frowning.
“Well, since I’m here, I’ll tell you why! So, you know that hole in the sky?” Kevin looked up, frowned again, then nodded. “So, that’s an interdimensional portal! Never heard of it? Yeah, me neither until today! But it connects to my dimension, and I stumbled across the portal in my dimension this morning! And let me tell you, it does not feel good to be torn apart and put back together and then swirled around and spit out into a lake, all in a split second.”
Kevin was still frowning. This strange creature called Lee had some nerve to drop into his peaceful day, then start yakking about interdimensional portals! He swam-marched right over to her and got in her face, then silently pointed towards the land.
He thought it was rather clear that he was motioning for her to leave, but Lee didn’t seem to take the hint and looked over there. “What, is there another interdimensional portal over there? Ohmygosh that would be so cool if there was more than just one!”
Kevin rolled his eyes and tried to lift her up. To his surprise and horror, his paws went right through her! Lee, however, didn’t seem to notice.
Backing away slowly, Kevin took a deep breath and called out, “MARIA!!!!” Lee stopped talking.
“My name’s Lee! Not Maria, silly,” she said and laughed nervously. Suddenly, Maria came out of the woods, holding a hefty stick above her head and screaming. Lee screamed, too, and scrambled out of the lake and jumped up, getting swallowed by the portal. Maria came over to kevin and hugged him. “Ok,” she said when she let go, “I’ve gathered some wood. You go get it. Kevin sighed wearily and went.
With her elytron polished, antenna brushed, and body washed, Beetle was ready for the day.
Fluttering away from her home leaf, she flew to her work leaf, and gasped at how many aphids there were on the stem.
“Goodness!” she cried. “Goodness gracious!”
Tommy, a fellow ladybug she knew well, hurried over to her. “Yes I know! We have a lot of work to do today, Beetle,” he said, looking down at the clipboard he was holding. “Better get straight to work!”
Putting on her glasses and taking out her own clipboard, Beetle headed to her classroom. When her students saw her, they immediately stopped talking and turned towards her, in neat, orderly lines.
“Good morning, Ms. Beetle!” the aphids said.
“Good morning, class!” Beetle replied. “Today, we will be going on a field trip to a new interdimensional portal about 60 leaflengths from here. A tullyop has traveled from her dimension to greet us and tell us all about the portal. You do not want to get lost, so make sure you each have a reliable friend you can walk with and trust. Does everyone have a reliable friend?”
There was a bit of moving around as the aphids hustled to be next to their friends, then they quieted down. “Yes ma’am!” they chorused.
“All right then, onwards!” Beetle said, fluttering away with a swarm of aphids behind her. I must be quite a sight, Beetle thought proudly.
When the class reached the portal, they gasped at the sight. It was a huge, swirling purple hole in the side of a tree, twice the size of Beetle. And Beetle was a rather large ladybug.
“Hello!” A spherical blue furry creature appeared.
“Oh my!” Beetle exclaimed, startled. “Where did you come from?”
The creature laughed. “I came from the portal, silly! Are you Ms. Beetle?” she asked. Beetle nodded hesitantly, still a bit shocked. “Well, hello, Ms. Beetle! My name’s Lee, and I’ll be your guide today. Hello, class.”
The aphids waved at her. “Hello, Lee,” they chorused.
“All right, first, we’ll be going into the portal! Whee!” Lee cried as she dove into the swirling, purple portal.
Beetle gasped. “O-oh! Um, well.” She hesitated, then relented. “I suppose—follow her?” The aphids cried out in joy and jumped in. Beetle stayed still for a moment, then followed as well.
“AAHHHHHHHH!” she screamed as she was torn apart and put back together and swirled around and spit out into a warm lake. She lay floating in the water to recover for a minute before looking around. She gasped again. She was surrounded by blue furry balls with slits for mouths and hazel eyes. They all looked exactly the same, save for their different sizes. The sky was also blue and furry, as was the ground, the trees, everything. Neither Lee nor the aphids were anywhere to be found.
Harrumphing, Beetle turned right around. She was leaving. The aphids would have to take care of themselves, and this day had been far too much. Beetle flew straight into the portal, held her breath—then flew right out the other side. To her great surprise, Lee and the aphids were there, with Lee chattering away about interdimensional portals and tullyops. “Wha-wha-ARGHHHHH!” Beetle yelled. “I am LEAVING! I am NEVER going to teach EVER again! GoodBYE!” And with those last words, Beetle flew away in a fit of rage.
