Honey Bees

 Originally Written Between 2016-2017                                          

“Okay, everyone!  Gather around and watch the “Grill Master” at work!”  Dale kept inviting people to watch him flip the hamburgers high in the air and land perfectly on his spatula.  Music filled the air, the guests were dancing, laughing, drinking, and eating.  All were having a great time.  What a successful party.

 

Dale’s wife, Joanie, is a fabulous cook and was in charge of the appetizers, drinks, and dessert.  And, of course, the theme – Hawaiian – with the appropriate plates, napkins, and decorations beautified the entire back yard.

 

Joanie is the “Queen of Appetizers.”  She had placed a lovely selection of hors d’ouvrés on the table directly in front of the grill so their guests could eat at the same time they were watching Dale perform his magic with the hamburgers.

 

Laughter was everywhere as late-coming guests joined the group.  In between his grilling tricks, Dale would take a swig of his mai tai cocktail and throw one of Joanie’s appetizers into his mouth.  All in all, a great party.

 

Just before Dale flipped the last hamburger, he grabbed a particularly tasteful crab salad on a cracker and threw it into this mouth.  Now – if he had actually looked at that cracker, he would have noticed the honey bee resting on top of the crab salad.  But, he was busy grilling, drinking, laughing, and throwing food into his mouth.  

 

Therefore, the cute little honey bee stung Dale on the roof of his mouth.  Dale immediately spit out the bee and the cracker, threw the last hamburger and the spatula high into the air, and fell to the ground.

 

Everyone rushed over.  Someone called 9-1-1 since Dale was not responding well.  He had difficulty breathing, a weak and rapid pulse, his throat and tongue were swelling and finally, he lost consciousness.  Within three minutes, the paramedics and the fire department arrived – sirens blaring.  One of the responders quickly stabbed Dale’s outer thigh with an EpiPen.

 

Within seconds, Dale was awake and sitting up.  His symptoms were not as severe as when the bee first stung him.  But, obviously, he needed more attention.  He was placed on a gurney, Joanie joined him in the ambulance and it immediately sped off to the nearest hospital – again, with sirens blaring. 

 

Not wanting the food and drinks to go to waste, Joanie instructed all their guests to continue on with the party.  Chuck took over the grill and placed the now over-burned hamburgers in the buns and soon laughter, joking, and singing could be heard all over the block.  Dale would have loved it.

 

The party was in full force when he and Joanie returned a couple of hours later.  Of course, after all of the drinking, each version of the bee-sting event made Dale well aware of the fact that he should watch what he eats.