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Once upon a time there was a little yellow-and-black striped bee named Beesley, who lived in a huge hive hanging in a big oak tree. Beesley loved his home. Most every day Beesley would wake up very happy. But one morning he woke up in a very bad mood. When his mother tried to feed him, he said he wasn't hungry. When she tried to kiss him he just flew away. For no real reason Beesley was angry, and he didn't know why, but he just knew that this was going to be an awful day. Beesley buzzed around all morning in a horrible mood. Being angry and flying around made Beesley very hungry, so he decided to find some yummy flower nectar to snack on. Beesley came upon a great big field with lots of smelly flowers. Beesley couldn't believe his little bee eyes when he saw some happy children playing in his flower field. They were running and playing and laughing and having fun.Beesley was furious to see all that happiness. "Don't those little kids know I'm angry," thought Beesley. "How dare you be so happy!" So Beesley sharpened his stinger and aimed it right at one of the little boys. "I'm going to put an end to all this fun." And he sure did. He stung one of the little boys right in his bottom. The little boy ran crying and screaming to his mommy. He told his mom what happened and that he didn't even do anything to the bee. Beesley had thought he would feel better by hurting someone else and by making them feel as bad as he did. But you know what? He didn't. He felt really bad. He was ashamed of himself. He hadn't even thought about how bad he would hurt the little boy. He wished he hadn't done it at all. Beesley felt bad about what he had done. And even though he knew his mom would be mad at him, he decided to tell her what he did. Being honest was the right thing to do, he told himself. Just as he thought, his mom was upset with him. She asked him how he would feel if someone hurt him for no good reason. She told him that bees only sting to protect themselves or their honey and hives. But the mother bee hugged Beesley and told him she was proud of him for telling the truth and that the little boy's sting would stop hurting in a little while. So Beesley flew off to find the little boy to see if what his mother said was true. At first he didn't find the children playing in the flower field. Finally, Beesley saw the little boy playing happily with his friends in the field of flowers. Beesley wished he could talk to the little boy and tell him he was sorry, but he knew he never could. |
The little boy felt better and so did Beesley--even a little happy.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ten-year-old Kaela Ray Larson won 1st Place in the Junior Division in National Pre-teen Corporation's 1998 short story competition with her short story "The Angry Little Bee." She accepted her award on-stage at the Eighteenth Annual Miss National Pre-teen and Pre-teen Petite Pageant in Orlando, Florida, on November 26th, 1998.
Boys and girls from around the country are eligible to participate in this competition; check out
the National Pre-teen Corporation's web site for details.
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Highlights: This charming story demonstrates a typical problem that we all face--both as children and as adults. Some days each of us is simply in a bad mood. Sometimes this mood seems to make us strike out at others around us and make them miserable, too. Writers can use anthropomorphic characters (that just means a non-human creature to which we give human traits) in their stories. This is seen most often in stories written for children, but once in a great while a story for adults will have these characters, too. One important thing about using such a creature is to choose one that fits the story's purpose. In Kaela's story, she used a bee. Bees have the ability to make honey and to help pollinate our food crops and flower gardens. Yet we all know a bee's stinger can be turned against us if we make a bee upset or afraid. Since her story is about how one character can make others unhappy, she chose a great creature because bees can most certainly make others miserable! In the end, Kaela showed another important fact to her readers: just like being miserable can make others feel that way, too, so can being happy. Beelsey sees the happy boy and that happiness rubs off on him as well.
A nice story with a positive ending. Good job, Kaela! |
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"Great job, Kaela! Your story had a wonderful message for all of us - both children & adults. The Alaska Pageant Team is very proud of your accomplishment. You are a wonderful representative of our state." Nancy Postishek  Writers love feedback! Click the mail box to send us an e-mail with your comments about this manuscript and we will gladly forward them to the author. |