Jessica



The Adventure of the Woods and a Billion Bees
It was an early autumn’s day, mid September to be exact. The leaves were turning, the wind was blowing, and the squirrels were racing around the trees. I was seven at a birthday cook out for this boy named Nick and there were quite a few little kids to run around and play with in the yard. Nick, who was thirteen, insisted on “the older kids” to take a walk, so we all agreed to ask our moms. We met on the front steps, and began to walk towards the back yard. “I wonder where we’re taking our walk?” I thought to myself. As we walked closer and closer to the woods behind Nick’s house, my throat seemed to swell. I began to walk slower and slower. “Come on!” my best friend, Ashley said. I knew I was going to regret stepping one foot into those woods, but I did it anyway. After about two hours of walking I told them I wanted to turn back. Nick didn’t want to, and I didn’t know my way back, so we kept walking. After walking about twenty miles, I said again, “Nick! Take me back, I’m scared!” Chris, who was about six years older than me, started laughing. Nick said hop on, and pointed to his back. He gave me a piggyback ride, but only about ten yards. I still had the rest of twenty miles to go! “You’re on your own now,” he said. As he headed back to where Ashley, Chris and the other kids were, I just thought about trying to find my way back.  After walking about ten miles, I all of a sudden felt this strange sensation in my bloodstream. I stopped, and then I heard this loud noise. It was a humming noise, and despite how strident it was, it sounded as if it was way off into the distance. I kept walking, and the noise was getting louder and louder, and sounded more like a buzz. I began to hyperventilate, so I stopped to catch my breath. I looked up into the trees and up above me was a beehive the size of a mini-van! I bet there was about a billion bees swarming out of the hives and coming straight at me. I ran as fast as I could and finally accelerated into warp speed. I burnt my shoes off my feet, causing me to trip on a root sticking out of the ground. I was stung all over from those bees. I was swollen like a balloon; my feet were dragging the ground because I was floating! I kept floating, bloody, swollen and all.

The swelling was finally gone when I got back up to the house. My mom ran to me and hugged me like I’d been gone for days. Then she told me I’d been gone for seven hours! I asked her if Ashley and the rest of the kids got back yet. They hadn’t and for some reason, their parents seemed like they weren't concerned that their kids might be missing! Then, Ashley’s dad came up and asked me where she was as my mom gave me some medicine and a band-aid for my knee. Then, Ashley’s dad and I went through the woods to look for her. Since I had been through there already, they figured I might have known the way to get to where they might be. Before long, we had a search team consisting of policemen, SWAT, and the National Guard. They let me fly in a helicopter to look for them! I spotted them with my super-duper vision, and we brought them back to the house. I will never forget that day and I know neither will the other kids. They got in big trouble, and I was rewarded by Mattel with a lifetime supply of Barbie dolls!   [All photographs that don't look like a second grader drew them are from flickr.com.]