Bedtime with Mrs.
Honeybee.
Today,
In the Honeybee neighborhood,
Things are gonna get sticky.
I've been practicing all week,
Mrs.
Honeybee.
I think I'm just about ready.
Careful now,
Melody Bee.
You're a little bee,
And that's going to be a big bubble.
Don't be so worried,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Look,
Blowing little bubbles is easy.
Watch.
See?
It's just like that.
Except the big bubble will be as big as an elephant.
Whoa!
That'll be a big bubble!
I'm so glad that you're enjoying the bubble gum,
Melody Bee.
I'm going to grab a few more pieces of gum from inside,
Then we'll get started.
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,
Walking the last few steps along the sidewalk to our house.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
Without thinking about it much,
You lean forward to take your next big step,
And suddenly,
You can't.
Your foot feels as if it's glued to the cement.
You look down to see stretchy strings of bright pink bubble gum that is now stuck to the bottom of your shoe.
Your exclamation gets Harold's attention,
And he rushes out through the side gate that was accidentally left wide open to see you.
Did I leave it open?
Oh,
Goodness.
I don't remember.
Harold!
Here,
Boy!
Hello,
Little Honeybee.
Thank you for wrangling our little furry escape artist here.
Whoa.
Was this gate left open?
Whoops.
I think that was me.
I was trying to find you,
My dear.
Then when I did,
I forgot to circle back and close it.
It's okay,
My dear.
It looks like he's in good hands now.
Hello,
My little Honeybee.
Oh,
My.
Do you have gum stuck to your shoe?
Whoops.
I think.
.
.
Mr.
Honeybee and Melody Bee both conceal their gum chewing as much as they can as we get your shoe cleaned up.
We apologize,
My little Honeybee.
Melody Bee and I were having a bubble-blowing contest with that gum there,
And it seems we lost some.
This might be too soon,
But you want some gum?
With your shoe all cleaned up and as good as new,
You take some of the bright pink bubble gum from Melody Bee and chew.
You owe it to yourself to blow the biggest bubble possible.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as you fill up with as much fresh air as possible.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth and blow a bubble.
The bubble keeps growing and you keep blowing.
Melody Bee's eyes widen as big as they can as she watches you with amazement.
She's working up to a bubble that you can blow without much practice.
Your eyes cross in as you watch the bubble grow in front of your nose until,
Finally.
.
.
Whoa,
Ling Master!
Teach me your ways!
Mr.
Honeybee hands you a new piece of bubble gum and you get to chewing.
Through your chews and chomps,
You explain to Melody Bee that the gum has to be soft and smooth,
So chewing it enough is crucial.
Me,
Mr.
Honeybee and Melody Bee are listening intently to your instructions.
We chew and chomp just like you do to get our gum as soft and smooth as possible.
When it's sufficiently smooth,
You instruct us to roll the gum into a ball and so we do.
Harold is watching all of us amazed by such a thing as glowing gum bubbles.
He's never seen anything like it in his life.
His snout is not suited for bubbles,
So he has resigned himself to watching as we flatten the gum against our teeth and stick our tongues out,
Trying not to giggle the whole time.
Then,
And only then,
Is the gum ready to be bubbled.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose and filling your lungs until they are full.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth and blow the biggest bubble you can.
Yours and Mr.
Honeybee's are the same size and growing,
While mine and Melody Bee's are a bit smaller at first,
But we catch up in no time.
All of our bubbles are bigger than our heads at this point and growing slower now.
Mr.
Honeybee gives one last puff of air and that pushes his bubble a bit too thin.
Me,
You,
And Melody Bee continue on,
Slowly blowing our bubbles bigger and bigger.
Both of ours pop at exactly the same time,
But Melody Bee keeps going and blowing.
Her bubble grows well beyond her size.
Harold's eyes grow right along with the bubble,
Tantalized.
Melody Bee takes one last breath in to blow her bubble even more,
But suddenly,
A gust of wind swirls by like a wave and sweeps her right into her own bubble.
The gum was so smooth and so sticky that when she was sucked inside,
It adhered to itself and closed her in.
That same wind carried the bubble bobbing through the air,
Light as a bright pink spherical feather.
We frantically run after her.
You get your fastest running start before leaping into the air.
Your fingertips barely graze the smooth bubble as gravity pulls your feet back down to the ground.
Mr.
Honey Bee,
Harold,
And I are all running as fast as we can after you,
Pursuing the wind that has confiscated our friend.
The wind ignores Melody Bee's command and we keep running after a flyaway bubble.
Melody Bee,
Flutter up to the top of the bubble.
I have a pen in my pocket.
I think we should be able to pop it.
Am I as high up as I feel?
You all seem really far away.
Don't go all Icarus on us,
Melody Bee.
This is no time for mythology,
Mrs.
Honey Bee.
Am I floating too close to the sun?
Will I melt?
No,
Melody Bee.
Don't worry.
It looks like you and the bubble are flying toward that tree.
One of the leaves or branches will catch you.
Can you steer the bubble at all?
What happens if you use your wings?
Um,
I don't know.
Oh,
Good.
It looks like you can steer.
Fly yourself into that tree,
Melody Bee.
We should be able to climb up and get you.
I can do that.
I can do that.
Who knew blowing bubbles was an extreme sport?
Oh,
Wait.
I think I can pop it with my stinger.
Good idea,
Melody Bee.
Put that stinger to use.
Here I go.
What happened?
You look stuck.
Are you stuck?
I'm stuck.
Now I can't steer the bubble with my flutter.
Melody Bee tries her best to flutter toward the tree with rough bark that will hopefully catch and stick the gummy bubble stuck.
You see one last opportunity to save Melody Bee and you take it.
We have run so much.
We've about made it to a nearby park.
There someone is flying a kite.
You quickly ask our new friend if we can use their kite to wrangle a flyaway bubble.
They happily agree and you try to use the kite like a sail to either catch Melody Bee or at the very least create enough of a gust to blow her and her bubble over to the tree trunk.
It takes all of your skill and might to struggle against the wind,
But finally you're able to guide the Melody Bee bubble to the very top of a tree where it sticks against the tippy-top leaves.
It's a tall tree,
But at least she's not hurling through the air anymore.
You saved Melody Bee.
How are you doing up there,
Melody Bee?
Humiliated.
Bubbled.
We're on our way up.
Don't you worry.
You'll be back to fluttering freely in no time.
With your hands outstretched,
You jump up to catch the lowest branch and pull yourself up.
As we know,
Harold is an expert tree climber,
So he scales the tree and leads the way up.
You give both me and Mr.
Honey Bee a much-needed hand up,
And then we all climb,
Keeping a careful eye on Melody Bee to make sure she's okay.
Right hand,
Left hand,
Right foot,
Left foot.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose and the warmth of the sun shining down on your skin.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth and keep climbing until we are at the very top of the tree where Melody Bee is hanging off the side of a branch.
We see her see us approach from inside the bubble.
Her tiny hands make imprints against its pink exterior and her stinger is buried in a clump of gum that sits unbubbled at the bottom.
As we climb higher and higher,
Maintaining focus,
Speed,
And agility,
We hear some curious visitors approach.
When we look back,
We see a group of crows land their feet on the bubble,
Thinking that it would make the perfect pillow for the nest.
Melody Bee calls out in her best attempt a crow language.
It tilts its head and listens to her broken pleading not to confiscate her once again.
We climb even faster,
Even stronger,
And even more focused on getting to her.
When we get close enough to the top,
We scoot along the branch.
Harold fearlessly runs out ahead of us and barks away the birds.
We're here,
Melody Bee.
Can you see us through the leaves?
Honey Bee,
Oh,
There you all are.
My,
Am I happy to see you up here.
When you look around,
It's actually kind of nice.
We look out over what Melody Bee can see from her bubble and happen upon the most beautiful panoramic view of the Honey Bee neighborhood.
The sun is shining down on us through the treetops,
Shimmering the top of the Honey River that rushes down from the majestic mountains.
When the sun shines on them just right,
They look purple from this distance.
We all spend a moment admiring this wonderful place that we get to call home.
But Harold quickly reminds us of the task at hand.
He scurries out on the branch as close as he can get to Melody Bee,
Who instinctively reaches toward him from inside the bubble.
We follow along the branch behind him,
Even slower when we realize we are shaking the branch and jostling Melody Bee back and forth,
Risking her bubble unsticking itself from the bark and floating away.
I don't really have a plan.
Do you,
My dear?
Ah,
No.
I was hoping you did.
What about you,
My little Honey Bee?
How can we get Melody Bee out?
Do we just.
.
.
Before I can finish my thought or you can answer,
Harold cannot fight the annoyance he feels for this bubble that has snatched up his friend and sent her to the skies.
He lunges from the branch just enough for his snout and the little sharp teeth under his nose to pierce the pink bubble.
The humongous bubble collapses and falls all around her.
Melody Bee seems to hang in midair for just a second before plunging down to the ground.
Ah!
Oh my gosh!
She lands on the soft grass with a thud and we all hustle and bustle back down to the tree to check on her.
Harold gets there first and when we jump down,
The damage has already been done.
I'm made of bubble now.
What's this made of?
Melody Bee stands up from her fall,
Trying her best to get her antennas to stand up and her wings to flutter.
My flutter machines are broken.
Beat me!
I guess this is what I get for chewing the gum.
Ugh!
Watch out everyone.
Gum will chew you back.
She walks like a zombie.
A couple steps forward that turn into accidental somersaults as she tries to pierce through the thin layer of pink film that now covers her completely.
With pink gummy hands,
She tries to wipe the bubble remnants from her eyes so she can see better.
Since she cannot see,
Each step she hobbles forward collects grass,
Dirt,
Pieces of litter,
And even an unsuspecting earthworm that made its way to the top of the soil.
Melody Bee is sticking to everything that sticks and she cannot see our attempts to help her.
She thrashes about,
Consumed by the bubble gum.
Can you all see me?
I can't see.
It's pink,
Which sounds nice,
But totally isn't.
We're right here,
Melody Bee.
Try to hold still.
We'll have to de-bubble you.
Can you please start with my eyes?
We slowly but surely de-bubble Melody Bee and when it's clear our friend is not in a lick of danger,
Mr.
Honey Bee says something he's been holding in for much too long.
Um,
What is a bubble's least favorite genre of music?
Oh no,
My dear,
Don't say it.
Pop!
Too soon,
Mr.
Honey Bee,
Too soon.
I refuse to laugh at that until tomorrow.
Always remember,
Mrs.
Honey Bee believes in you.
You are special and you are loved.
I can't wait to see you again.
