by BobA. Troutt
*****
Tickle Box
Bizzy Bee of Whispering Valley
Summer had come to Whispering Valley. The summer gardens were beautifully decorated with rainbow colored flowers. The flowing meadow which surrounded the valley enriched its beauty. And the gentle breeze blew a whisper of fragrance across the valley.
Bizzy Bee, a worker bee, lived in the valley inside a hollow tree. She worked hard along with the other bees gathering nectar throughout the garden and meadow to fill their beehive and to make honey. Her sister, Lazzy Bee, lay around on a leaf wearing her sunglasses and soaking up the sun with her friend, Stre-e-tch, the grasshopper. Day after day, Bizzy and the other bees gathered nectar.
“Bizzy, when is your sister going to start helping us gather nectar?” asked one of the worker bees.
“Yea,” said another, “we are getting tired of doing all the work!”
“I don’t know,” replied Bizzy. “I will talk to her.”
“Queen Bee will be angry if she finds out Lazzy is not helping us,” said another worker bee.
Bizzy quickly flew off through the garden in search of her sister. She flew around and thought to herself, what am I going to do? Eventually, she found Lazzy swimming in a buttercup filled with rain from the morning rain shower.
“Lazzy, the other workers are upset because you are not helping gather nectar,” Bizzy explained. “Won’t you please start helping us?”
“Me, gather nectar!” laughed Lazzy.
Stre-e-tch, the grasshopper who was chewing on a blade of grass, chuckled, “Lazzy, gather nectar! Are you kidding me,” he said as he turned his head and spit.
“But, Lazzy,” insisted Bizzy, “we all must work together and help each other.”
“Phooey,” laughed Lazzy, “I’m not going to mess up my manicure.”
“Please think about it,” mumbled Bizzy as she buzzed off.
A few days later, while on her way back to the hollow tree, Bizzy got word that Queen Bee wanted to see her.
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Bizzy. “The Queen must have heard about Lazzy not doing her share of the work.”
As Bizzy approached Queen Bee, she fluttered her wings and dropped her head.
“Bizzy,” grumbled Queen Bee, “I have heard that your sister, Lazzy, is not gathering her share of nectar?”
“Yes, ma’am, I know,” buzzed Bizzy. “Will you please give her another chance? Just let me talk to her one more time.”
“Okay,” agreed the Queen. “But, she had better start gathering her share of nectar.”
“Thanks,” replied Bizzy as she flew off.”
On her way back to work, Bizzy passed by the garden where she spotted Lazzy relaxing on a petal and sipping nectar while her friend, Stre-e-tch, chewed on a weed. Oh, what’s the use, thought Bizzy. She’s never going to change. I would rather do it myself. Bizzy buzzed through the open meadow and darted through the garden as mad as a hornet. She got an idea when she was hurrying about the meadow filling her work pails with nectar. Instead of gathering two pails of nectar, I’ll get four to cover my sister’s share of the work, she thought. Maybe the extra pails I collect will make up for Lazzy’s shortcomings.
Days went by and all was quiet. As long as Bizzy covered for Lazzy, the other workers kept quiet. But, the other workers thought it was terrible the way Lazzy treated her sister. Lazzy’s excuse was that she was too tired. All Stre-e-tch would do was repeat the phrase to bee or not to bee, that is the question. Then he would nod his head and spit.
Things went well for a while. However, Bizzy was so tired one day when she was gathering nectar from a flower she got stuck and was unable to get out. She was so tired and weak that two other bees had to pull her out by her legs.
“Bizzy, you are overworked,” stated one of the worker bees. “You can’t continue to do your work and Lazzy’s too.”
After they pulled her out of the flower, she tried to fly away but she just fell to the ground. She was too weak to fly. The other worker bees picked her up and helped her back to the hollow tree.
“You need to rest,” one of the worker bees insisted. “Take some time off and get well. We will cover for you.”
Lazzy fluttered into the hollow tree and saw how sick and weak Bizzy was. The worker bees looked at her in disgust. She just dropped her head; she was ashamed of how she had been acting.
“Bizzy,” she cried as she buzzed over to her, “I’m sorry for the way I have acted. I will do better; you’ll see. I’m going to do my share of gathering nectar. Please hurry up and get well.”
The worker bees swarmed out and so did Lazzy. Each of them darted about the garden and through the meadow. They filled their work pails with nectar and rushed back to the hollow tree. Well, all except Lazzy. She was so out of shape she couldn’t even carry one pail of nectar, much less two, back to the hollow tree. The other worker bees watched as Lazzy struggled and struggled with the pail. She was trying with all her might but she couldn’t do it; she didn’t have the strength. The other worker bees felt sorry for Lazzy and since Bizzy was their friend they decided to help her.
“Call for Sergeant Bumble!” yelled one of the worker bees.
“Go get Sergeant Bumble!” cried another.
Suddenly, from across the garden, they heard a loud roaring buzz and saw a big, black and yellow dot coming their way. Zoom! Across the way he flew. Zoom! He flashed right before their eyes, circled back and stopped right in front of them.
“What seems to be the trouble, girls?” he questioned with a deep rough voice.
All the worker bees started talking at once. He couldn’t understand a word they were saying.
“One at a time,” shouted Sergeant Bumble. “One at a time, ladies, please.”
Lazzy spoke up and told Sergeant Bumble the whole story.
“I see,” said Sergeant Bumble. “So, you want me to help you get in shape to carry nectar?”
“Yes, I do,” she whispered, “if you don’t mind.”
Sergeant Bumble turned and thought a bit. He patted his foot and scratched his head.
“Lazzy, I’m going to get you back in shape,” he exclaimed.
“Hooray!” buzzed the other worker bees. “Lazzy, your sister is going to be so proud of you.”
The next day, Lazzy started her workout drills with Sergeant Bumble while the other worker bees gathered her and Bizzy’s share of nectar. Sergeant Bumble had her doing leaf curl-ups with twigs, chin-ups and lifting barbells of nectar.
“One, two, three,” coached Sergeant Bumble. “Now, I want you to fly the bee line across the garden and through the meadow!” he commanded.
For three days, Sergeant Bumble had Lazzy doing strenuous exercises. He also restricted her diet to honey only. Finally, on the fourth day, Lazzy was not only able to carry two pails of nectar but four. The worker bees and Bizzy watched and cheered her on. Sergeant Bumble’s work was done; Lazzy was in shape to carry her share of nectar. Bizzy was of proud of her sister. Most importantly, she was glad to be well again and ready to get back to work. As Bizzy and Lazzy flew off through the garden, Lazzy saw her old friend Stre-e-tch.
“Hi, Stre-e-tch,” she shouted.
“Hello, Lazzy,” he replied. “What have you been up to lately? I haven’t seen you in a while,” he said as he spit.
“I’ve turned over a new leaf,” she bragged. “It’s just like you always said, to bee or not to bee that is the question! Well Stre-e-tch, I have chosen to be a bee,” she beamed.
“Very well,” replied Stre-e-tch as he spit and hopped off.
“Come on, Bizzy,” said Lazzy. “We have things to do.”
Bizzy and Lazzy flew off to gather nectar from the garden.