Ra was a fuzzy little bumblebee. He was named after the great
Egyptian sun god. He had two wiggly antenna, a yellow and black
striped body, a pointed stinger, shimmering clear wings, and usually
wore a big smile on his face; but not this morning.
The sun was rising from behind a sand dune. Its rays were shining
down on the pinkish white lotus blossom that Ra was sitting on. He
teetered on the edge of the flower and took a deep breath.
"Today I'm going to buzz," he decided. As hard as Ra had
tried, he'd not been able to make a buzzing sound like all the other
bees did. He wiggled his little antenna and tried with all his might
to buzz, but all that came out was a 'pfhhhhhhh'. He tried again, 'pfhhhhhh'.
He just couldn't buzz. Ra felt so bad that he started to cry. Big
watery tears fell down his cheeks.
As he sat on the lotus blossom, sobbing, Amani, the serpent,
slithered by. She stopped and looked at Ra. "What are you
crying for?" she hissed.
Ra replied, "Listen." He tooka deep breath and tried
to buzz. Again, all that came out was a little 'pfhhhhhh'.
Amani started to laugh at him. "What kind of a noise is that?
Bees don't go 'pfhhhhhh'. They got buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." The
snake slithered closer. "Oh, and look. I can see my reflection
in your tears. Hold still. I need to see if my fangs are
clean," Amani said, opening her mouth to look at them. Her
little forked tongue flickered back and forth.
"Go away," Ra cried. "Leave me alone," he
whined, and flew off to another lotus flower, not far away.
Amani saw her friend, Ashraf, the bull, and called over to him.
"Come and look at the tears of Ra, Ashraf. You can see yourself
in them."
The bull looked down at Ra sitting on the flower. "What's the
problem little bee? Why are you crying?" he asked. He noticed
the tears and looked at them. Sure enough, he saw his reflection in
them. "Hol still, Ra. I want to see if my horns are sharp
enough."
"Go away," Ra said.
Ashraf began to laugh. "What is he crying for?" he asked
Amani, the serpent.
"Listen to him. He can't buzz. Every time he tries, he goes 'pfhhhhhhh'.
Have you ever heard of a bee that couldn't buzz?" Amani teased.
"Come on, Ra. Let's hear a buzz. I know you can do
it," Ashraf the bull urged.
Ra, thinking that Ashraf was sincered, squeezed with all his might.
His little antenna began to wiggle. His little yellow and black
striped body shook, and he let out a loud 'pfhhhhhhh'.
"Ha, ha, ha," Ashraf and Amani laughed.
Ra was so embarrassed. He fluttered his wings and flew off to a
jacaranda tree. He sat down on a branch and cried. Huge tears rolled
down his face.
Amani and Ashraf left, and went down to the river to get a drink.
Sameh, the falcon, was circling high above. He saw Ra sitting on the
branch and flew down, landing next to him. "Are you here to
tease me too?" he asked.
"Well, not exactly. What would I tease you about? You're just a
little bee," Sameh asked.
"I am a bee, and I can't buzz. As hard as I try, I just can't
buzz," Ra explained.
"Give it a try. Let me hear you," Sameh begged.
"OK. You asked for it." Ra took a deep breath, squeezed
his hands tightly together, and let out a loud 'pfhhhhhh'. He tried
again, 'pfhhhhhh'. "See, I can't do it," Ra cried, and sat
back down on the branch, sobbing.
"Oh, come on now, Ra. Stop those tears. I'll help you. I'll
help you to do the biggest buzz any bee can do," Sameh
promised.
He admired the little bee for trying so hard. He told him to
concentrate really hard, so Ra did. He tried to buzz, but all that
he did was go 'pfhhhhhh'. He tried again. This time he went 'pfhhhhhz'.
"Wait. What was that? It sounded like the beginning of a
buzz," Said the falcon. "Try again."
So Ra tried again. This time he went 'pfhhhhzz'. The next try it was
a 'pfhhhzzz'.
"Try again. This time concentrate really hard," said Sameh.
Ra thought really hard about it, squeezed his hands really tightly,
and finally made a buzzzzzzzzzzz. He was so happy.
"Try again," Sameh urged.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
"I knew you could do it," Sameh congratulated, clapping
his wings together.
Ra was so happy that he flew up into the sky, zoomed around the
obelisk, then buzzed by a sycamore tree. Then he flew to the top of
the nearby pyramid and landed. He loved how the morning sun felt on
his gossamer wings. Ra felt proud too.
The falcon flew up there and landed next to Ra. Together they gazed
down at the beautiful Nile valley below them. "I knew you could
do it, my friend." He scooped up the bumblebee and held him on
his wing.
