2015/2016
Vol. 11

“Look! I Found a Bee!”

1960s; near Mutare, Manicaland, Zimbabwe

On a warm and sunny day at the Mutambara Mission in Zimbabwe, a large family of five boys were all playing throughout the yard while they were waiting for their mother to finish cooking food. The second-oldest boy, William, was playing outside with the third-oldest son, Don, running around and chasing bugs, when William stumbled upon a large bumblebee.

William got a giant grin on his face as he grabbed the large bee by the wings. The bee struggled and tried to escape the young boy’s clutches, but the bee was unsuccessful, and the bee was still filled with rage as William walked up to his brother Don.

“Don, look! I found a bee!” William exclaimed, showing the bee to his brother. “Wow!”

“Can I hold it?” Don said excitedly.

At that point William thought of an evil prank. “Sure,” William said. “All you have to do is give me your hand so the bee can have a place to sit.”

Don excitedly did as his brother said, and waited for his brother to give him the bee. William then reached out his hand and put the angry bee into the palm of his antsy younger brother. With no hesitation, the bee dug his immense stinger into the hand of the boy and proudly flew away as the boy screamed. Don ran around the yard hysterically as his older brother had tears in his eyes from laughing.

Then Don turned to his brother and yelled, “I am going to tell Mom!”

The two boys ran as fast as they could. Don flung open the door and ran through, as William trailed behind until they reached the kitchen.

When Don got to the kitchen, he started babbling out words in an attempt to explain to his mother his dilemma.

“This is it,” William thought, seeing his brother tell his mother about what had just happened.

The fear in William started welling up more and more until he heard his mother say, “William, I can’t understand what he is saying. Do you know what happened?”

Now was his chance to get away with what he had done, so he had to come up with something believable to tell his mother. “When we were playing outside, I saw a bee on a bush,” William said, staring at his younger brother. “And when I showed it to Don, he hit it, and it stung him in the hand!” William exclaimed, looking terrified. Don was now scowling at his older brother, who was grinning mischievously.

“Well, I guess we should bandage your hand,” the boys’ mother said, staring at Don sympathetically. The two disappeared to their mom’s bedroom, and William celebrated that he had managed to get away with such a deed.

The two boys were back to playing together the very next day, and their parents didn’t learn the truth behind this story until both children were adults. The two boys always laughed about the time when William found a bee.

Niasha Kodzai, daughter of William; North Carolina, USA

This copyrighted story may be copied and/or printed for limited classroom or personal use. To reprint this story in an article about The Grannie Annie, please contact The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration for permission.

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