Buzzworthy
Why did a wasp wedge its skinny striped self into my
shoe by the door? Isn’t there some kind of code between bees and human
inhabitants? Shouldn’t he have at least buzzed
his presence before I slid an unsuspecting and tired foot into what I thought
was my shoe? Let me assure you, when
a wasp wants it, your footwear is not yours anymore!
A quick errand to the supermarket started the
stinging affair. Who thinks of checking a shoe? Not me … but that policy is now
revised.
As I hurriedly slipped on the right shoe, I felt what
I thought was a little pebble, a stony bumpy thing. I took off and shook the
shoe, but nothing rolled out, so I slipped it back on and started out the door.
Again! A “thing”, what
is that? pressed hard against my
sole, but I pushed forward toward the door. Bad idea, because then the hard
annoying thing burned! Until I understood I had been stung, it felt like a
red-hot rock burning!
I flung off the shoe and there he was, gasping his
last little bee breath.
Apparently, the weight of my wrath did not settle
well around the waspy invader.
Panicked, I sat down and saw the welt growing larger
on my foot bottom, as the fright mounted inside me, and I rubbed and watched it
turn red and swell fast and furious.
I may be allergic and I don’t know what kind of bee
bit me, but more importantly, what if I couldn’t walk?
Adrenaline coursed
through my veins at an alarming rate. I could feel my heart beat faster and my
blood pressure spike from fear.
Because he stung the bottom of my foot, callused soul
skin saved me. (A case for “thick skin” and sparse pedicures if I ever heard
one!)
Once, I got stung on my fleshy arm and had to go to
the hospital because the swollen lump grew so large and my breathing changed to
challenging. That’s when I found out I am allergic to bee stings. But maybe
only certain kinds of bees….
As it turns out, my little bee buddy didn’t get a
good bite. I probably scared him more than he scared me.
We both limped away.
Me stung.
Him stunned.
I lived.
He died.
Just Another Lori Story
