Mr. Tiger Beetle (Bedtime Story)

Bedtime with Mrs.

Honeybee.

Today,

In the Honeybee neighborhood,

Our adventure will fly by.

We will join Melody Bee and her new tiger beetle friend for a game of tag.

I bet you've never met a tiger beetle before,

Little Honeybee.

Probably because it's so hard to catch them.

Do you know what happens when tiger beetles fly as fast as they can?

Come on,

Let's find out.

All you have to do is close your eyes,

Get cozy,

And listen to the sound of my voice.

Mrs.

Honeybee will be your guide.

Let's begin.

You are here in the Honeybee neighborhood,

Walking through the forest to our house.

You decided to come the back way today because you are on your way to meet Melody Bee and her new tiger beetle friend for a game of tag.

As leaves crunch beneath your footsteps,

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel the coolness of the air.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth as you come upon our backyard gate,

Which you recognize because the sunflowers are drooping their heads over the fence to greet you.

Melody Bee is already outside,

And you can hear her playing with her friend.

Buzz,

Buzz,

Buzz.

You open the gate to join them.

Hello!

You're here!

This is my friend,

Tiger Beetle.

He's not just any beetle.

He's a tiger-y one.

If there's anything a tiger beetle is excellent at,

It's tag.

We were just about to start a game.

Not it!

Buzzing before you is a very friendly,

Bright green beetle that shimmers in the sunshine.

He flutters up to you to say hello.

Tiger beetles are known for how fast they can fly,

But looking at him,

You feel confident you can outrun a tiger beetle.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose and stretch your arms all the way up and your legs all the way out to limber up for tag.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth and take your place to begin.

You lunge forward,

Getting ready to run like you're at a race.

The tiger beetle will be it first.

On your marks,

Get set,

Go!

You and Melody Bee zoom around the backyard,

Hopping over the potted plants and weaving through the hammocks and the trees.

You breeze by the sunflowers,

Then run through the little field of them that has formed.

You've gone so fast that the tiger beetle has changed direction and is now zooming after Melody Bee.

She flutters and flutters,

Zigzagging through the leaves of the tree just above the hive until,

Finally,

The tiger beetle catches up to her and tags her.

You are formidable at tag,

Tiger beetle,

But I was just warming up.

Melody Bee revs up her wings and wiggles her stinger like a cat,

Getting ready to pounce.

Then,

She bursts into flight.

First,

She chases you,

Again through the sunflowers,

Around the side of the house where there are chickens.

You step over them carefully.

You bob and weave as Melody Bee buzzes all around you,

Trying to tag you.

But you are too fast at ducking that she changes course and goes after her new tiger beetle friend.

He's pretending to go slow at first,

Then goes faster and faster until you can hardly see his outline.

He goes so fast that he becomes a flash of green light darting around the backyard,

Through the garden,

In a zigzagging circle.

He goes so fast,

For so long,

That Melody Bee has to rest for a moment.

She calls out to him,

But he doesn't seem to hear her.

You try calling out to him,

Because he's flying directly into the side of the house.

He doesn't seem to hear you and crashes into the house so hard that he bounces off and back into flight.

Now he's scared,

Dizzy,

And panicking.

Melody Bee shouts out to him again.

Tiger beetle,

Are you okay?

We can stop for a minute.

I think you pretty much won.

Mr.

Honey Bee and I hear all the commotion outside,

So we open the slider door to see what's going on.

Are you two okay out here,

My little Honey Bee?

Melody Bee,

Is your tiger beetle friend okay?

I don't think so,

But we can't get him to stop.

The tiger beetle frantically flies all over the place,

Bumping into the beanstalks and the peas that grow vertically.

A few sunflower petals fall to the ground as he zips by in dizzying circles.

Everyone watches in anticipation,

Wondering what to do and how to help him.

Suddenly,

In the blink of an eye,

He heads toward the back door.

Harold appears in the doorway at the same time and they crash into one another before the tiger beetle zips into the house,

Bouncing against each and every wall.

Mr.

Honey Bee and I rush in after him,

But he also bumps into each of us at least once.

We duck for cover as he zips back and forth in a frenzy,

Trapped inside the house and moving faster and faster.

Harold doesn't quite understand what's happening,

But his puppy instincts kick in and pursue whatever is trying,

In his perspective,

To get away from him.

Harold leaps up after the tiger beetle,

Which sends the beetle into even more of a tailspin.

He darts from wall to wall,

Bumping into everything along the way.

At one point,

He gets stuck in the blankets of the couch,

Where Mr.

Honey Bee is able to at least keep him in a place that's soft,

So he won't crash into anything else,

But he's terrified.

It's okay,

Little fella.

You're okay in here.

Melody Bee gathered up some of her other beetle friends who know exactly what's happening to this tiger beetle.

She cautiously buzzes inside,

Looking over her shoulder to make sure she won't bump into her new friend.

Melody Bee flutters up to you,

Standing beside me and Mr.

Honey Bee,

Who are sitting on the couch.

You are doing your best to hold Harold in place,

But he is trained on the tiger beetle that is still flailing about under the soft blanket.

Okay,

I figured out what's happening.

I knew this was a thing,

But wow,

Did not know it was this much of a thing.

What is it,

Melody Bee?

Is something wrong with the tiger beetle?

Well,

Yes and no,

But mostly no.

Good thing.

Do we need to research this?

I am always ready to research.

He's a tiger beetle,

You say?

Yes,

Yes,

That might be helpful,

But I know what's happening.

Tiger beetles are so good at playing tag because they can fly fast.

So fast,

In fact,

That they temporarily blind themselves with how fast they're flying.

So I don't have to feel bad about losing twice at tag.

That's part of the good news,

I guess.

Anyways,

He should be fine shortly,

I think.

Is there anything we can do to help him?

There has to be.

Let's go figure it out.

We can keep him wrapped up in this blanket so he doesn't bump into anything.

Okay,

I'll hold him and sit with him while you go do some research,

My dear.

He might be scared in there.

Can we try talking to him?

Hey,

Little guy,

I'm Mrs.

Honey Bee.

That was Mr.

Honey Bee,

And you know Melody Bee and our little Honey Bee.

We're all here to help you,

Okay?

Let us know what you need.

How are you doing in there,

Friend?

Melody Bee slowly lifts up one corner of the blanket.

Together,

You both peek into the darkness,

Trying to see how our friend is doing.

When you can't see anything staring under there,

You both lean in closer.

Suddenly,

Out comes the Tiger Beetle once again in a panic.

Mr.

Honey Bee comes out of the office,

Holding his laptop in his hand,

Ready to announce his new findings.

But instead,

He runs right into the Tiger Beetle again.

Harold is once again chasing the Beetle and trips Mr.

Honey Bee double after he tries to steady his footing from the Beetle bump.

I grab Harold to hold him in my arms,

And we stand perfectly still,

Trying not to add more commotion to the situation.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Quiet yourself inside and out to be as still as possible.

Then,

Slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and watch for the Tiger Beetle,

Which is zipping around you but not bumping into you yet.

You duck whenever he comes near,

Though.

While you're watching,

Mr.

Honey Bee reads what he found out about Tiger Beetles.

Tiger Beetles do blind themselves from running so fast,

Like Melody Bee said,

But I think I figured out how to help.

The Beetle comes hurling back towards us,

So we all duck while Harold lunges,

Trying to get the Tiger Beetle with his snout.

Mr.

Honey Bee continues while he ducks down.

Tiger Beetles live in burrows underground,

So I don't think he's scared at all when he was wrapped up in the blanket.

They live where it's dark,

Just like that,

So if we can wrap him in a blanket again,

We should be able to get him back out in the sunshine.

That might help him calm down.

You get the same fuzzy blanket from the couch and hand one corner to me,

Another to Melody Bee,

One to Mr.

Honey Bee,

And you hold the fourth in your hands.

When the Tiger Beetle bumps into the wall across from us,

We get ready.

He's heading right towards us now.

We're going to catch him in the softness of the blanket,

Then wrap the four corners around him so he thinks he's back at home in his burrow.

Here he comes.

The blanket absorbs his bounce,

And we fold the blanket around him gently.

In an instant,

He's calmed down.

With the blanket swaddled around him,

We carefully carry him back to the couch to calm down for a minute before releasing him outside.

Melody Bee,

Again,

Leans in to check on her new friend.

Tiger Beetle,

Is there anything we can get you while you rest?

In a dry,

Crackly voice that can barely speak,

He asks for water and something else,

But Melody Bee cannot hear him through the blanket at first.

What was that,

Tiger Beetle?

Water?

Mrs.

Honey Bee is getting you water now.

Oh,

No,

Not water.

Waffles?

Um,

Mrs.

Honey Bee,

Do we have waffles?

We have all we need to make some waffles,

Coming right up.

You and Mr.

Honey Bee follow me back to the kitchen,

Where we get all the ingredients we need for the best batch of waffles we've ever made.

Mr.

Honey Bee sets the waffle iron on the counter,

And we look over to make sure Melody Bee and the Tiger Beetle are still doing okay.

She gives a thumbs up and a big smile.

He sips the water from inside his blanket barrel and is finally calming down after a frantic afternoon.

Once the batter is mixed up and smooth,

You carefully pour the batter into the waffle iron.

You can feel the warmth from here.

As soon as Mr.

Honey Bee closes it,

You begin to smell the delicious waffles baking.

Take another slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Smell the delicious aroma of waffles.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth as the first waffle bakes to golden brown perfection.

One by one,

We stack the waffles on a plate,

And you drip syrup over the top.

We carry it outside,

Along with our Tiger Beetle friend in his blanket barrel.

We sit them on the patio table in the backyard,

Right next to each other,

And open the top of the blanket so he can smell the waffles.

He rushes right to the stack of waffles,

But luckily the syrup is so sticky that he cannot move any further.

He stays still long enough to see again and to enjoy the whole stack of waffles.

We enjoy the rest of the afternoon,

Having breakfast for lunch,

Along with our new friend and lounging in the backyard sunshine.

Always remember,

Mrs.

Honey Bee believes in you.

You are special,

And you are loved.

I can't wait to see you again.