Instruction: Write a short story about a little girl that saves her neighbors home from a bee infestation.


Response: Milly was 6 years old and ever since she could remember, fascinated by bees. Her mother called her their little apiologist. Her father called her "honey bee." Her brother called her super tough because she had been stung by bees over 10 times and not once did she cry. The truth is, Milly felt like crying when she was stung, and it was not because the sting hurt. No, Milly was sad, because when a bee stings you, it dies and Milly loves bees.

Knowing what you now know about Milly, it will be no surprise to you that the Jackson's came to her when they needed help. The Jackson's were Milly's neighbors, and Milly thought they were very cool. First off, they loved animals. Including 3 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 12 little silver fish that sparkled in this huge fishbowl. They dressed colorfully, they organized street-wide garage sales, and every few weeks, they invited Milly and her brother over to watch movies in their backyard that they projected off the side of their garage. 

The Jackson's were not the type of people to worry about much, but on this day, they appeared very concerned. When Milly opened the door after she heard the doorbell ring, their they all were, Thomas and Lauren (the parents), Amber, Jade, Hugo (the kids), Bosko and Roscoe (the dogs), Felix and Helix (the cats), and sparkles (all of the fish were named sparkle because you couldn't tell them apart) in their fishbowl. Amber spoke up, "Milly, we need your help, it's an emergency." Jade continued, "There are bees everywhere!" Hugo finished, "At least Dad and Roscoe are allergic to bee stings, so we just grabbed everyone and ran!"

Milly's eyes darted between each of the people and pets in front of her. She could see and sense the fear in them. They did not know that there was nothing to fear, Milly the little apiologist was here. Milly took a deep breath, and calmly said, "Lead me to them." Thomas said, "Thank you Milly, we think they are coming out of the garage, but we're not sure", as they started to walk next door. 

Stepping through the grass, you could start to hear what the Jackson's were talking about. With each step, a droning buzz sound got closer. As Milly stepped off the lawn and onto the Jackson's driveway the buzzing went up a few decibels. She started to see them. Little movements in every direction - coming from the garage, going to the garage, bouncing off the windows of the car, hovering above the buffet of colorful flowers in the planters hanging on the side of the back deck. To some it might look chaotic, but to Milly, it was amazing. 

The Jackson’s stayed back, near the start of the driveway, holding their collective breaths, as Milly walked right into the swarms' midst. Milly’s tie-dye shirt was bright pink and yellow, and had the words, “Flower Power” written on the front in bold, bubbly letters. It attracted a lot of attention. Bees were landing all over her, as if exploring the shirt for some hidden nectar. Unbothered, Milly stood there for a minute and just listened to the buzz. She could sense that it was louder towards the garage. Milly went to the green wooden door and peered in through the window. She could not believe her eyes.

The window on the door of the Jackson’s garage was in need of a cleaning. But it was clear to Milly that something remarkable was behind this door, because she could see bees everywhere. Not just flying, but bees on the table top, the toolbox, the walls, the lights, the bicycles, they were everywhere. So many, the walls looked like they were moving. Milly opened the door and walked in, a few bees blasted out as the door opened, along with a rush of air carrying a slightly sweet fragrance. 

More bees flew towards Milly, landing on her. Walking on her sleeves, hanging on to her shoe laces, getting tangled in her hair. Milly put her hand over her mouth and nose, so she could breathe without inhaling a bee. She had to keep blinking to keep the bees from obscuring her vision. She walked slowly to the table top that used to have a few tools on it, keeping a close eye on where she stepped. She started her search here, because she noticed a strange pattern in the surface movement: there was a small trail between thousands of bees on the wall behind the table top.

Milly knows a lot about bees. That male bees don’t have stingers. Females and males have different body types and shapes. Females have shorter antennae, males tend to be slimmer and smaller. Milly also knows that each hive has a single queen, and that the queen likes to walk quickly amongst her hive. As she walks, the workers all around her will part in front of her, leaving a small wake behind the queen. With this in mind, Millly scanned the wall, looking for her. 

And there she is. The queen bee stands out. She’s larger in every way. The patterns on her wings are more clear. She moves where she pleases, and her workers are happy to clear a path in front of her. Milly reached out and picked her up. The buzzing in the garage got louder almost immediately. The bees near the wall, started to lift off and fly around quickly in front of Milly, who was once again holding a hand over her mouth and nose. Milly turned to face the door and began to retrace her steps back out of the garage. 

As Milly took each step, more and more bees started to land on her closed hand holding the queen. Bees landed on her arm, on her shoulder, on neck, and slowly covered all of Milly’s body. Milly made it to the door, and walked out. The Jackson’s started yelling, “Milly are you OK?!” “Milly??!!!!” “Call 9-1-1!!!” Roscoe barked. Milly couldn’t hear anything over the buzzing though. The weight of the bees was unexpectedly heavy. The bees were warm too, and she could feel a tinge of perspiration on her brow.

Milly headed home. She didn’t have any pets of her own, she didn’t ask for much, but she was about to make a big ask. Milly still moved slowly, as her vision was still obscured given the movement in front, above, and below her eyes. She could sense the Jackson’s kids rushing ahead of her, and shouting. Milly could feel the queen in her hand moving around, pushing at the edges between her fingers, trying to get through to her hive that was crawling all over Milly.

As she walked back across the lawn, she started to see people on the street watching her. She could see her house between blinks, and her mother and father walking towards her, with big grins on their faces. They walked right up to Milly, and spoke loudly to be heard over the buzzing. “Where are you going, my little beekeeper?” Her dad’s voice cut through the buzz. Milly just looked up at him, and over at her mom. She responded with her eyes, though blinking rapidly, those big green eyes conveyed a desire to her parents that they understood.

The two parents looked at each other and sighed, then looked back down at their daughter. “So, what are we supposed to do, get a nice box or jar for the queen?” Milly nodded, and headed through the gate to their backyard. Milly’s parents followed, along with her brother, and the Jackson’s, though Roscoe stayed wearily at the back of the group. Milly’s mother disappeared into their shed and emerged a few seconds later with a small box that had a lid with a very fine mesh. A temporary home for a queen.

The box was placed on the patio table and the group gathered around. Milly reached out and placed the queen in the box and stepped back. As she stepped away, the bees started to lift off of her, buzzing in the air, waiting to pick up the new signal of the queen’s location. Then one by one, they found her, and rapidly flew towards the box, covering the table in seconds.

Milly let out a deep breath and looked at her friends and family. She dropped the hand from over her mouth, and helped a few bees that were stuck in her hair find their way out. She had the biggest smile on her face, like only a happy 6 year old can have, and she asked, “Who likes honey?”