The Shiny Penny (Bedtime Story)

A penny on the sidewalk leads to more than just luck—it sparks an adventure of kindness, from sharing freshly baked apple pie to helping a squirrel stash acorns. As Harold enjoys his walk, we stumble upon a lost wallet, setting off a heartwarming mission to return it to its owner, with the help of a clever lovebird. With every step, we learn how even the smallest gestures can brighten someone’s day, and discover the true magic of a simple, shiny penny. - Love, Mrs. Honeybee

Featuring: Mr. Honeybee, Melodybee, Roger Robot, and my dog Harold

Transcript

Bedtime with Mrs.

Honeybee Today in the Honeybee neighborhood,

We'll be taking Harold for a W-A-L-K.

We have to spell it out because if Harold hears us say W-A-L-K,

Then he'll start barking and get really excited for his W-A-L-K.

And it'll be hard to put his leash on.

I'll distract him,

And you grab his leash.

Oh,

Harold!

Harold!

Come here,

Boy!

Okay,

I'm going to pack his little dog pouch full of treats and a drink.

He always gets so thirsty on our W-A-L-K.

When are you going to tell him,

Mrs.

Honeybee?

When we're all ready.

Sneaky!

Okay,

I'll play it cool.

For now.

I got you,

Mrs.

Honeybee.

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,

Standing at our brightly colored front door,

About to knock.

Before anyone can open the door,

The smell of freshly baked apple pie wafts through the open front window.

You can smell the sweetness,

And it makes you hungry just as the oven dings for the pie to be checked.

I run over to the door with my oven mitts still on and fumble with the door lock like Melody Bee usually does.

She is beyond ecstatic to have the tables turned so suddenly,

And she buzzes over to my aid.

No,

Mrs.

Honeybee.

It's like this,

And like this.

Thank you very much,

Melody Bee.

Vindication!

I have finally mastered that lock.

Melody Bee's excited tone has gotten Roger Robot's attention,

And he wheels over at once.

Hmm.

Looks like this lock is old and worn down.

Definitely not safe.

We need to change these locks ASAP.

What?

No.

I just mastered it.

They look fine.

Did you do a lock scan,

Roger?

How'd they look?

With a sly little smirk,

Roger double-checks then triple-checks the locks and assures Mr.

Honeybee they should be changed for everyone's safety.

No.

It's going to take me years to learn this new one.

It's always good to learn new things,

Melody Bee.

I just want to get past locks.

I want to learn new things that aren't locks.

Anyways,

Little Honeybee,

You're here.

Oh,

My apple pie.

I can smell that it's ready to be taken out now.

I run back to the kitchen to check on the pie and set it out on a cooling rack just as you all arrive at the table ready to taste test.

I bake not one,

But two apple pies to share with the neighborhood.

Don't you just love the smell of homemade baked goods?

I added extra cinnamon because it's actually really good for you.

A lot of spices are,

But cinnamon especially.

That sweet smell of home-baked pie is one of my favorite things.

The delicious smell gets stronger as Roger Robot cuts the pie in mathematically precise pieces,

Assuring not one is bigger or smaller than another.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Take in all the sweetness and joy as the fresh air fills your lungs.

Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and dig into your slice.

I haven't made you all this exact recipe yet.

I was going through my cookbooks and found a little wooden box full of old recipes that I had forgotten about.

It was passed down to me from my mother and to her from her mother,

Who knows how far back it goes.

One day we'll have to figure that out.

But anyways,

The recipe is handwritten on its own little card.

I got all the ingredients together and followed the steps exactly.

You are all tasting a slice of Honey Bee History.

It tastes delicious.

Oh,

I almost forgot.

I was going to cut us some fresh sunflowers for the table.

They've bloomed perfectly,

But I want to encourage more growth,

So I need to trim some flowers down.

I'll be right back.

Melody Bee returns with a fresh bouquet of flowers and all of us sit around the table finishing our slices of pie with full happy bellies.

Harold carefully monitors the floor in case even a crumb accidentally falls down,

But he hasn't found one yet.

His snout stays close to the floor,

Hopeful that one will.

When he hears our forks clink against and rest on our plates,

He knows his window of opportunity for pie has closed,

And he quickly pivots to his next favorite thing,

Begging us to go for a walk.

Harold,

Do you want to go for your walk now,

Boy?

He was waiting specifically for you to get here,

My little Honey Bee,

Because he just loves to walk with you.

I'll slice up the rest of the pie for the neighbors.

And I'll wrap them in little bows and a chamomile flower.

Aw,

They're gonna love it.

We can leave them on their doorsteps for when they get home.

That'll be a lovely surprise.

Okay,

We're going for a walk now,

Boy.

Go grab your leash.

Roger Robot and Melody Bee wrap up the rest of the heirloom apple pie while you,

Mr.

Honey Bee,

And I do the dishes.

We all make such a good team.

Harold is sitting at our feet,

Waiting as patiently as he can with his bright blue leash in his mouth.

You bend down to put on his harness and buckle him in.

Then he runs to the door where he again waits as patiently as he can with so much excitement coursing through his veins.

He not only wags his tail,

But his whole body wiggles with happiness.

The simple pleasure of going for a walk is one of Harold's favorite things.

He reminds us how easy life can be when we focus on the joy of the moment.

Roger's and Melody Bee's arms are full of pie slices wrapped up and tied with a bow and a flower.

You take hold of Harold's leash and we are out the door for an afternoon stroll.

Filled with so much energy,

Harold leaps after the first thing he sees.

Squirrels are usually his friends,

But when he's excited he goes into puppy mode and everything becomes a toy,

Even furry little friends.

Oh Harold,

That's not very kind of you to growl at the squirrels.

They're our neighbors too.

They're just out collecting acorns.

They're hungry and like treats just like you do.

Look,

Now they've got all the acorns they needed from the grass and they stuff their puffy cheeks absolutely full,

As full as they can be.

I love the way they scurry back up the tree.

Sometimes they stop halfway up,

Turn their little bushy squirrel tails all the way around,

And look back for me to give them just a couple more acorns for them to carry up the tree.

Aww,

They're doing it again.

Let's gather a couple more acorns from the grass to give to the squirrels.

Together you and I look all around the soft green grass until we find a little brown acorn.

They're kind of shiny and even look like they're wearing little hats if you look really close.

I find one and very gently offer it to the squirrel.

You do your best to keep Harold calm so he doesn't scare them away with a big playful bark.

Take a slow deep breath in through your nose.

Quiet yourself from the inside out and find a feeling of softness within you.

Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth as the squirrel happily takes the acorn from my hand and runs up the tree.

The squirrel loved it and grabbed it right from your hand.

I bet the squirrels will really appreciate an extra acorn that they didn't have to scavenge for.

The human equivalent would be like someone handing you your favorite lunch.

Little things like that are the best.

It definitely doesn't have to be big.

You can bake an heirloom pie for a neighbor.

You can keep your household safe with new locks.

Yeah,

That too.

Or you can give a friendly squirrel an extra acorn you found on the ground.

All those little things bring smiles to faces that might need one.

And you just never know who really needs a smile that day.

Speaking of smiles,

Would you look at this?

It's a penny and it's face up.

You know what they say about finding a penny face up?

Say it with me if you know.

Find a penny,

Pick it up,

All day long,

You'll have good luck.

Exactly.

This copper penny is only worth one cent,

But do you want to know something really special about this penny?

Mr.

Honeybee holds up the penny for all of us to look at with new,

Wonder-filled eyes trying to see what it contains.

We inspect it from all sides thinking Mr.

Honeybee is going to say something about the soft metals it's made of or something like that.

But after a brief pause,

Mr.

Honeybee continues.

Within this small round copper penny from,

Let's see,

Where's the date?

Oh,

Here it is.

Contained within this penny from 2018,

There is something you cannot see,

But it is very powerful.

Here,

Hold out your hand flat.

I'll place this penny on your hand and see if you can tell what it is.

Mr.

Honeybee places the penny in your hand.

It's cold to the touch from laying on the concrete,

But it quickly warms up in your closed palm.

You look at it closely,

Then pass it along to me when you cannot tell what it is.

I inspect it,

Then pass it to Melody Bee,

Who passes it to Roger Robot,

Who performs a quick scan before handing it back to you.

I can give you a percentage breakdown of all the materials contained within this,

But something tells me that's not what you're going to say.

That intuition setting I installed seems to be working well,

Roger.

Thank you,

Thank you.

Roger waves his robot hand and takes several bows as if an audience is clapping for his achievement.

We giggle at his antics,

Then return back to the penny,

Wondering still what it contains.

Within that little penny lies a wealth of kindness.

Now that you know the answer to the riddle,

You close your hand up around the penny.

It feels so tiny and cool in your hand.

Mr.

Honeybee explains that because this penny has been given to you,

All the luck and kindness to pay it forward it contains is now all yours.

The keepers of all lucky pennies have a great joy lying ahead of them and an important responsibility because you cannot have one without the other.

You are just the person to have that lucky penny,

Packed as it is with all its joy and responsibility.

Whenever you need a little luck or a smile,

You can always remember that penny.

It will be with you forever and ever and ever.

When you need to,

You can toss this penny into a fountain as you make a wish.

Then the great magic around us begins working on making that wish come true,

Conspiring along with your highest ability to achieve your goals.

But in order for wishes to come true,

You have to take on the responsibility of passing along the kindness and the joy.

You twirl the penny around each of your fingertips and think about the grand theory of life that Mr.

Honeybee sees in this little penny.

Did you know that you already passed along the kindness contained in that penny today?

Did you even realize it?

That's how easy it is.

Sometimes you don't even realize you were kind.

Today you helped keep Harold occupied and quiet so the squirrel could feel safe enough to get the acorn.

Now with the penny,

You have the exciting chance to think about what kindness,

Big or small,

Will you pass along tomorrow.

It's completely up to you.

I am so excited to hear about the wonderful ways you are spreading kindness to the world,

My little honeybee.

You stash the penny in your pocket to begin keeping it with you forever until you want to literally pay it forward one day by throwing it in a fountain.

Or maybe you'll leave it somewhere that someone can find it so they can feel the joy of finding a lucky penny.

Who knows?

For now,

It rests in your pocket as we continue on our walk.

It's such a beautiful day outside today.

The sun is shining down on all the flowers.

The butterflies are fluttering to each and every one.

The leaves are even starting to change color on some of the trees.

The sunny days like this are the best for a long Harold walks through the honeybee neighborhood.

Like we usually do,

We turn when we get to the roses so we can stop and smell,

Well,

The roses.

Harold lifts up his snout like he's smelling more than just the roses.

A faint citrusy scent of late season guava fills the air too and it occupies Harold long enough for us to smell the beautiful roses.

Take a slow deep breath in through your nose.

Feel your chest and your spirits lift as the flowery aroma of the roses surround you.

Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and pluck one for you to remember this walk by.

As you reach down to put the rose in your pocket,

You notice that Harold seems to be sniffing out something else.

That's when you look down to see two dimes sitting right in front of you.

You pick them up to happily show us,

But your expression turns to confusion when you see more money strewn about on the sidewalk behind us.

Oh goodness,

Here's a $20 bill and look someone's brown leather wallet sitting in the grass.

This has to be lost.

No one leaves a wallet out like this on purpose.

Let's be sure to put everything back inside safe and sound so we can see who this belongs to and get it back to them right away.

Inside we see an ID card with the name of one of our neighbors.

It's the nice man who lives just around the corner from here.

He must have dropped it by accident when he was walking his Yorkie pup.

His pup is one of Harold's very best dog friends.

This neighbor of ours will definitely need a smile when he realizes he lost his wallet.

This is the perfect chance to pass along even more kindness.

We passed along teeny tiny kindness in the form of acorns to the squirrels with their acorns,

Making sure this nice neighbor gets his wallet back with all of the content still inside.

That will be a big kindness and it's also the right thing to do.

Along the way we do extra good by dropping off slices of pie to all of our closest friends and neighbors.

Melody B holds back one slice to give along with the wallet.

We walk up to the door and knock once,

Twice,

Three times just to make sure he hears us.

Maybe he's not home.

I don't see any lights on inside either.

He must be out and about without his wallet.

Oh goodness,

What a shame.

What is it Harold?

Do you know of a way for someone to get this very nice neighbor who's out and about without his wallet,

His wallet back?

That's right,

I almost forgot.

This nice neighbor has a lovebird who lives just outside of his house in her very own tree.

And this lovebird with bright red feathers on her head and bright green wings and tail feathers loves to send messages of all kinds.

She sends love letters to friends,

Urgent messages,

Funny messages,

All kinds.

This is the perfect message to send with the nice neighbor's lovebird.

Oh lovebird,

Where are you?

We have a message.

Hello lovebird,

We are so happy to see you.

We have a very important message in the form of this wallet.

It needs to get to our very nice neighbor who is out and about without it.

Can you carry this wallet in your wings and deliver this to him so he doesn't have to worry anymore?

Thank you so much lovebird.

My little honeybee here has kept the wallet safe and sound for him.

Here you go lovebird,

Fly safely.

With that,

We did both the right thing and we passed along kindnesses big and small.

What a wonderful day this has shaped up to be.

We always enjoy our time together because we bring out the best in each other.

You are just so special.

And as I always say,

And as I always mean,

There is no one in this whole world just like you.

I think we've earned a swing on the hammocks at the community garden,

Don't you?

I know Harold thinks so.

Come on,

Let's go back around the corner so we can swing in the hammock.

I'll race you,

Roger.

There are enough hammocks for all of us,

But Melody Bee gets distracted pruning the flowers at the community garden.

You jump up into the hammock and Harold jumps in right after you.

You pet his soft fur and snuggle in close as the breeze gently blows you back and forth.

The sunshine peeks through the treetops as the leaves start to fall.

A single soft sunbeam warms you from the inside out.

The warm breeze keeps up and continues to swing you ever so lightly back and forth,

Back and forth,

Back and forth.

This is the best time to come out here and I'm so happy to be here with you.

Always remember,

Mrs.

Honey Bee believes in you.

You are special and you are loved.

I can't wait to see you again.

Reviews

You’re meditation is nice as ever,Mrs honeybee.(get it?Nice?)