Tommy and the Bees

Swarm

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

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(Based on a real event)

Tommy tramped through the woods, enjoying the cool shade. He loved the woods. He would have been perfectly content to pitch his one-man pup tent and stay out all week long, but his mom would have worried. He didn’t understand that.  He felt much safer out in the woods than he did on the streets at home. Not that his town was dangerous. Not at all. He just liked the woods better.

He could tell by some of the tracks he saw that there had been deer moving through. Also, he knew  there was partridge all over. His dog was constantly going on point, but Tommy wasn’t hunting today. He was just soaking in the smells, the breeze, the scents that filled his nose with wonderful things.

What he DIDN’T notice in time was the mud-colored hive on one of the  old trees.Nor did he notice the number of bees that were buzzing in and out of the hive. He didn’t realize he was in any danger until the bees swarmed him, stinging  on every exposed bit of skin.

He’d been told to run for water if something like this happened, but there was no water anywhere nearby. He tried standing perfectly still, hoping the bees would go away.  Didn’t work.  Bees on the warpath didn’t just buzz off!

So Tommy did the only thing he could think of.  He hit the muddy ground, rolling like a log going downhill, squishing the bees under his body. He slapped at his face, head and neck. Finally, the attack stopped and he could lie still.

He hurt.  Doggone bees!  He had some water in a canteen, so he poured most of it over the stings he could see, then over his head and face. Calling his dog, he turned back toward home. He figured it was about 15 minutes if he could keep up a steady pace.

When he could see his house, he started hollering. His mom and grandmother both came to the back door, not spotting him right away. When they did, they went into fast action. Grandma ran a tub of cold water, and Mom got his clothes off of him and helped him into the tub.  She poured baking soda into the water. She asked Grandma to call the doctor, since she didn’t want to leave Tommy alone.

Tommy itched like fire for a few days, but other than that he suffered no ill effects. In fact, when he walked into his first-grade classroom, he was the hero of the day.  The other boys thought all his stings were pretty cool, and the girls  all said, “Ew! EW! Get away!”

It was a perfect day.

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