|| WTAE || Bumble Bee ||

Instructions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bumble Bee: Name: Bumble Bee || Gender: Gender fluid || Personality: Normally energetic and cheerful. || Kin: Wasp (brother), mother and father || Likes: full moons, swimming, climbing, sunsets || Dislikes: Rain, wind, sun “Bumble Bee! Come on!” my brother races up a tree. It’s a tradition for us, every full moon we get to have our own time. To be with each other and have our fun while our parents visit other cats. I race after my brother, Wasp, leaping up the tree, Lonely Leaves. “It’s even more beautiful than last month!” I say. That’s what we say every month when we come here. “It always is,” Wasp says in awe. I nudge him. “Come on! Let’s go to the cliff!” I race off in the direction of the cliff, a long, thin winding path up a steep cliff. We call it Claw Cliff. Wasp runs after me. It’s the same as it always is, always has been. Nothing special. “The river!” he declares, bounding away to Running River. That’s what we call the river that curls around the hills where we live, protecting our family. There are fish swimming in it, as always. We dab our paws in the water, trying to catch them. We never can. “Shimmering Stream?” I suggest. While Running Rivers’ current is too strong for us to swim, Shimmering Stream has shallow waters and little pools for us to clean ourselves in. We splash through the water, allowing ourselves to be free in the stream. We eventually get cold and move on to our next spot. Broad Boulder. It’s a huge boulder at the bottom of a hill. Every month we climb it, peering into the crevices and pretending to rule the hills when we reach the top. It’s always a race to the top. “I win!” I shriek triumphantly as I stand on the top of the rock, looking over the hills. Wasp groans, but doesn’t protest. We stay here until the sun is sinking below the hills and we climb down, ready to run to the place we always go with our parents. Sunset Sea. The ocean glimmers in the distance as we race towards the hill where our parents are already waiting. “Mama! Papa!” we smile at them, ready to sit down. Mama curls her tail around us and leans on Papa, looking out at the sunset. We stay there until the sunlight is barely visible and trudge back home. We do this month after month, year after year. One month, we were doing everything as normal. Each month we started and ended with something different. Today we had picked Running River for last. We were leaning in to catch fish from the river. It was a windy day but that didn’t stop us. Teasing each other, we flung water, getting each other wet. And then it happened. A particularly strong gust of wind came towards us. I wobbled on my feet, almost falling in. I would’ve, but Wasp leaped at me first, pushing me out of the way. And falling into the river, the current carries him away. “Wasp!” I shriek, trying to pull him back. My efforts fail, I watch helplessly as he is swept away to who knows where. I run back to my parents, screaming, my breaths coming out in gasps. The rush to find Wasp, but he’s gone. My. Fault. My fault. I can barely breathe, tears choking me, barely audible because of my screaming. My parents rush me to my nest, telling me they’ll find him. I know they can’t though. I fall asleep with only one though, one thing in my dreams. Wasp. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------