I love this story. Nik is a wonderful human, fighting for animals every day at Mercy for Animals. Thank God for him.
Love,
Alicia
Today, on my morning walk along the beach, I spotted a tiny lil’ bee nearly buried in the hot sand. I kneeled down and right as my shadow shielded her from the sun’s harsh rays, I saw her take her final breath. I couldn’t believe the timing. I rummaged through my backpack and pulled out a piece of paper from a notepad to transport her body to a nearby shadowy area, to rest there in peace. I said a little prayer and then I continued on my way, saddened, having not arrived earlier to possibly aid in a rescue mission.
About three yards later, I encountered another lil’ bee crawling with great difficulty across the infinite dunes. I kneeled down again and upon further inspection noticed he was covered in sticky ocean air and cumbersome sand particles that made flying away to safety an impossibility. It broke my heart to see this little, innocent bee struggling to survive all alone in this big scary world.
I reached into my backpack again and retrieved the piece of paper and placed it down very close to the bee. He mustered all his strength and eventually climbed on board. I said out loud “Okay, buddy, now hang in there with me!” and, together, we embarked on what can only be described as an epic bee odyssey across several hundred yards of sand, through and around multiple threatening bikers and joggers, a gaggle of perplexed tourists, across a concrete boardwalk, and towards a cluster of yellow and pink flowers… a.k.a. salvation. All throughout the many twists and turns of this bumpy, sandy, windy journey, this sweet little, innocent bee-ing stayed with me, on that small torn-off piece of paper, somehow knowing we were destined for safer grounds.
We finally arrived at the patch of flowers that I had spotted in the far-off distance, and as I kneeled down, gently guiding the bee onto a beautiful, bright yellow blossom, he crawled onto the flower and nestled right into the heart of it. After a moment of getting his bearings, he turned around and looked back up at me. In that moment, my heart broke open. I saw this bee look up at me and take a deep sigh of relief, truly basking in the safety and glory of this flower… his sanctuary, his peace. I gazed back at this amazing bee-ing, in complete awe of all his profound beauty, strength, and wondrous life force.
I said out loud “You’re a really brave bee, you know that? You made it a long way from almost getting washed away into the ocean… That was quite an adventure we just had!” With that said, the bee gathered his renewed strength and began fluttering his sun-dried wings which were now glistening in a yellow flower petal pollen; after a moment, he miraculously took flight and zoomed away, far off into the ether, disappearing from my sight. I waved goodbye, continued on my journey, and couldn’t help but smile, knowing that bee was alive and free to simply be.
Every day we have opportunities to look out for one another, to help each other along the journey, to see each other on a deeper level, to know we are all connected and all one; from every human to non-human animal; all living beings are worthy, sacred, and deserving of kindness, protection, freedom, and respect for their life.
