Chapter 16
Louie’s World Nearly Comes to an End.
It is now into the first week of spring. It is the insect’s favourite time of the year. There are many flowers along the stream emitting delicate wafting fragrances like smokeless incense. Daylight hours were getting longer, there was a magic in the air.
Louie and Lulu are up and about; it is Monday about 9.00 a.m.
Pearl Baker-Moth had let Louie know that she was a little bit low on chocolate cake and red wine. We may remember that on Sundays Pearl religiously checked stocks of red wine and chocolate cake and let Louie know if any re stocking was required.
This was the wonderful part about the insect world; each insect, no questions asked, had a desire to help others. They knew their society wouldn’t survive if they didn’t
Louie and Lulu were sitting outside on the deck together after breakfast discussing the day ahead.
‘I think’, said Louie, ‘we should perhaps head to the village and pickup some chocolate cake and red wine for Pearl before we go to the Factory’.
‘Good idea my loveable bee’, said Lulu who was enjoying the sunshine and didn’t really want to move. ‘Hold me for a moment Louie and then we can go’.
Louie held Lulu and stroked the beautiful furry black and yellow stripes on her body. Louie didn’t really feel like moving either.
‘Louie’, Lulu broke the silence, she had been thinking about something, ‘when we go to the village can we fly down alongside the road? The village council has planted some Daffodils, Freesias, and Jonquils amongst the trees, they are just so beautiful at this time of the year and the nectar is so sweet’.
‘Of course Lulu’, Louie would do anything for Lulu.
The pair lay in the sun until about 9.30 a.m.
‘This won’t do’, said Louie, and he stood up laughing and pulled Lulu to her feet. ‘Come on my bee, the day is passing, we must make a move’.
Lulu agreed, she held Louie close to her and looked up with her soft brown eyes and said. ‘I love you Louie’.
Louie felt crushed with happiness.
Louie went and got the bracken baskets they would take to bring the chocolate cake and red wine back in. The red wine would be put into six-packs of sealed honeycomb cells.
While Louie was getting the baskets and the empty six-packs ready, Lulu tidied up a few things. Louie had a habit of leaving things on the floor such as his best spider silk shorts. Lulu also had to check that Louie had a clean hanky and of course that he had washed his teeth. Lulu loved him and tidying up after Louie was just part of loving him.
At 9.44 a.m. Louie and Lulu headed off. This time they flew away from the stream and towards Pearl Baker-Moth’s apartment. They just cruised along lazily, past Pearl’s apartment and on towards the village.
Down below, as Lulu had said, were the beautiful spring flowers she had talked about.
‘Let’s go down Louie’, Lulu led the way and Louie followed.
Lulu was happy and carefree and wasn’t thinking clearly what she was doing.
Louie shouted. ‘Lulu, lookout!!!’
But it was too late, Lulu hadn’t heard Louie. Lulu had done a wide circle out onto the road and was hit by a passing car.
‘Oh no’, cried Louie. ‘Oh no, please be alright Lulu’.
At first Louie couldn’t see Lulu. Then he saw her. ‘Help!’ cried Louie. ‘Help me someone’, but nobody could hear him.
It was just terrible. Lulu was lying on her back in the middle of the road; her bracken basket was lying crushed further along. Lulu’s pink ribbon was rolling along in the breeze.
Louie was by Lulu’s side in an instant; her wing was broken and pointed upwards, her legs moved in involuntary spasms. Her beautiful little body had a gash along the side.
It seemed that Lulu was close to dying. Louie was beside himself with grief. Louie hugged Lulu and sobbed uncontrollably.
Suddenly another car passed. The wind from the car blew Louie and Lulu further along and separated them. Lulu’s broken wing waved helplessly in the breeze.
Louie was bruised and slightly hurt from the action of being rolled by the passing vehicle. He was in absolute despair and limped back to Lulu. He had lost his basket and with it his smell phone. He couldn’t contact anyone for help.
Louie wanted to die with Lulu. Louie thought maybe he should just hold Lulu and lie in the middle of the road with her until the end came.
Another car was approaching, this time Louie saw it and flew up out of the way.
Back down again with Lulu, Louie could see she was still twitching and her lifeless broken wing was pointing skywards, but she was still alive.
‘I have got to save her, I have got to save her’ Louie repeated to himself over and over again.
Louie tried to pick Lulu up; it was difficult with Lulu twitching and the angle that the broken wing was pointing.
Just as Louie picked Lulu up another car passed and he dropped her.
‘Oh please somebody help me, please somebody help me’, Louie cried. There was no one to help him. Louie was on his own.
Louie dragged Lulu in the direction of the side of the road nearest the stream. It was a long agonising process. As more cars passed, Louie had to let Lulu go and fly up out of the way.
Another car passed straight over the top of Lulu and she was rolled further down the road again.
It was a terrible sight to Louie, Lulu’s broken body on the road and he felt desperately sick.
Louie tried again and managed to drag Lulu closer towards the edge of the road.
More and more cars passed and Louie had to keep on dropping his beloved Lulu time and time again. Louie was tiring, he ached.
One more try he did it, he managed to get Lulu off the road into the shade of the grass. Louie was still sobbing uncontrollably, he couldn’t see for the tears.
Lulu was twitching less now, she really was close to dying and Louie knew it.
Lulu was badly dehydrated from lying on the hot surface of the road; Louie had to get her water to cool her little body.
Louie took off for the stream and dived into the surface. He then flew back to Lulu, his furry body soaked in stream water. He hovered over Lulu and shook the water off his body onto Lulu. He did this several times, there seemed to be some benefit Louie thought. Lulu seemed to move a little more and the water cooled her.
Louie leaned over Lulu and held her again. ‘Can you hear me Lulu? Please, please say something’.
Louie waited for a response, there was nothing.
Louie went back to the stream and got some more water for Lulu one more time.
He suddenly realised what he had to do, Louie was thinking more clearly now. He had to leave Lulu and get to the tunnel and through the quartz.
Louie covered Lulu carefully with grass so she would be shaded and kept cool. He then headed off to the tunnel. Louie flew at full power, his wings and body ached but he knew he didn’t have much time. Louie arrived at the tunnel entrance. Oh no! Louie didn’t have the key, he would have to fly home and get it.
Louie was desperately tired and sore but just pushed on. Home he flew to pick up the key. Everything around him was a blur; he didn’t feel or see the beautiful spring day. He had a purpose and he didn’t mind if he died trying.
Back to the tunnel, Louie now had the key. Down to the quartz wall he went. He didn’t have time to light the beeswax candles and consequently bruised himself as he ran in blind panic in the dark down to the quartz wall.
‘Please, please don’t let me be too late’, said Louie to himself.
Once through the wall and out into the village, Louie flew back to where Lulu was.
It took awhile to find her. In his panic to save her he hadn’t left a marker of any sort. Eventually after some moments of desperate searching he found her.
Louie looked at Lulu, she seemed to be lifeless. She looked so tiny to Louie now that he was on the other side of the quartz.
Would it work
, could he do it?
Louie clenched his left fist close to Lulu. Oh No! Louie had injured himself as a bee and his left fist was weak, there was virtually no blue aura. He couldn’t use his right fist as that would advance Lulu to certain death and then he could no longer help her.
Louie touched Lulu to see if there was any life and said. ‘I Love you Lulu’.
Yes, there was a flicker of movement in one of her legs.
Louie squeezed his left fist for all he was worth, he was desperate, it was agony. Yes! Yes! He had managed to produce the necessary blue aura. Lulu was slowly going back in time and turning back into the beautiful bee she had been.
Louie rested his arm then squeezed his left fist again, almost there.
Miraculously Lulu’s bent and broken wing folded back and down to where it normally was. The gash along the side of her body melted away. Lulu opened her eyes and stood up.
Louie’s problems weren’t over yet. Louie forgot he was on the other side of the quartz and said ‘Oh Lulu, you are going to be alright’.
Lulu, who didn’t know what this voice was, let alone where it was coming from, immediately flew off in fright.
‘I can’t believe it’, Louie said to himself. ‘I can’t believe how stupid I have been. How will I find her now?’
Louie quickly returned to the quartz in the village and through to the tunnel. He blundered his way along the tunnel in the dark and out into the light again.
Louie flew to where Lulu had been, he called her but she was nowhere to be seen. He flew home, maybe she had gone there. No, Lulu wasn’t there or at the Factory either.
Louie had just about had it, his wings ached so much and he was dirty from being on the road.
In desperation Louie flew straight to Pearl’s apartment, she would know what to do.
Louie banged on the door. ‘Pearl, help me, help me, please help me, I have lost Lulu’.
Pearl opened the door and took the poor distressed bee in.
Louie explained what had happened between the sobs that kept coming uncontrollably.
Pearl comforted Louie and thought for a moment.
‘Louie where do you think Lulu might go if she was frightened?’ asked Pearl.
‘I don’t know said Louie, I just don’t know. She isn’t at the Factory, she isn’t at home and I’ve looked by the road’.
Pearl thought some more. ‘I think Louie she would head for somewhere high up, maybe a tall tree? There are some tall trees on the reserve just up from where you say Lulu flew off. Let’s both of us go and check there’.
Louie and Pearl flew off together. They called and called Lulu to no avail.
Louie and Pearl rested for a bit.
Pearl thought for a moment. ‘Louie, I think Lulu would be disorientated and not know where she was. I believe her first thoughts would be to try and find you, but she wouldn’t know where to look. Remember in healing her after the accident you have taken her back in time. What I suggest is that we just sit here very quietly and listen.
Louie and Pearl sat and listened. They waited and waited. Louie was trying to control his sobbing so that he wouldn’t miss any chance of hearing Lulu.
‘Listen!’ said Pearl.
Louie also heard something in the direction of the stream.
‘Let’s fly closer and listen again’, said Pearl.
Louie and Pearl alighted in the top of a tall pine tree and listened again.
Yes they heard it. ‘Louie, help, Louie, help’.
Louie took off instantly; he had heard his beloved Lulu.
Sure enough, at the top of another pine tree there she was, her wings now perfect again were quivering with fright.
Lulu recognised Louie and Pearl immediately and spoke. ‘Oh Louie, Louie, Pearl what has happened? Have I had a bad dream or something? I’m lost; I don’t know where I am’.
Louie finding it difficult to even speak said. ‘Lulu, Lulu, thank goodness you are alright!’
Louie and Pearl comforted Lulu.
Pearl took command of the situation. ‘Louie, bring Lulu back to my apartment and we can tell her all about what has happened. We can get you cleaned up too’.
Louie took Lulu’s hand and said. ‘Fly with me, everything is alright’.
Back at Pearl’s apartment, Pearl made some hot strong gum leaf tea and Louie took a hot bath and massaged his bruised body.
While Louie was taking his bath, Pearl relayed to Lulu what Louie had told her. Pearl explained to Lulu how she had been hit by a car and how Louie had put his own life at risk to save her. ‘What really frightened you Lulu was actually Louie when he was on the other side of the quartz and he tried to talk to you’.
Lulu was very quiet. There were tears in her eyes. She realised if it hadn’t been for her wonderful Louie she wouldn’t be alive now.
After a while, Louie came back into the room, a now clean and tidy bee, a little sore but oh so happy. Louie grabbed Lulu and gave her as big a hug as his sore body would allow. She was just as she was before being hit by the car; the only thing that was different was the pink ribbon that she normally wore was missing.
‘Oh Lulu’, I really thought I had lost you.
The three of them were stunned and sat in silence.
‘Isn’t it incredible’, said Pearl. If the properties of the quartz in the tunnel hadn’t been discovered, first by you Louie, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking now. Your homes would have been destroyed by the water pipe project and worst of all Lulu might not have been with us’.
The shock was easing to some degree. Louie turned to Pearl. ‘Thanks so much Pearl, if it wasn’t for your clear thinking as to where to find Lulu, we might not have found her’.
‘Who knows’, said Pearl. ‘Really we have all been so lucky’.
‘What I would like to do now’, said Louie. ‘Is to take Lulu home and spend the rest of the day with her. Then tonight we will take you Pearl to the Nest Café and shout you the wine and chocolate cake we didn’t manage to get today!’
Pearl laughed. ‘You don’t have to do that but I won’t say no!’
‘I need to recover a bit’, said Louie. ‘Tomorrow Lulu and I will try again to get you your chocolate cake and red wine from the village! This time we won’t stop and look at flowers along the road, will we Lulu?!’ Louie had a twinkle in his eye, he loved his Lulu and she was home again.
Louie and Lulu flew back out into the beautiful sunshine of the spring day and on to their precious little home.
Louie and Lulu sat out on their deck, overlooking the stream where they had started from earlier that day. They were safe again.
Lulu had found another pink ribbon and put it on. She looked even more beautiful.
Lulu stroked Louie’s bruised limbs. They were still quite painful, but he didn’t really notice any more. He had his Lulu with him.
The thought of what could have happened would be with the two bees for quite some time. Later that evening Louie and Lulu headed off to take Pearl to the Nest Café.
Before they left, Louie went down to the stream edge and picked a small daisy for Lulu. Lulu tucked it into the ribbon around her head. She looked beautiful.
The next day Louie’s bruised limbs were still quite sore. He was struggling to move around to some degree. Louie suggested that they both go to Dr Wong down by the supermarket to have a check up. Lulu agreed.
Louie phoned Dr Wong and they were booked in at the surgery for 10.00 a.m.
When they had arrived the waiting room was full of Ants. Obviously there was some sort of anty virus going around. Louie went in to see Dr Wong first.
Dr Wong gave Louie a thorough check-up. Dr Wong felt that the bruising would be gone within a day or two and gave Louie a course of anti inflammatory medicine to take twice a day. It was in a nectar mixture so Louie would quite enjoy this. ‘Yea!’
Louie came out and smiled at Lulu and gave her a hug and said. ‘All OK, your turn now’. Lulu went in and Louie waited.
Lulu was gone quite awhile and Louie was getting quite concerned.
When Lulu came out, she was in tears; she was very distressed about something.
‘Louie, take me home, I can’t talk here’.
The pair flew home along the stream close together; Louie wondered what on earth could be wrong. Lulu wouldn’t stop crying.
The sun was shining so Louie and Lulu sat out on the deck.
‘Louie hold me’, pleaded Lulu. ‘I don’t know how to tell you, you may not want me anymore’,
‘Shsh nonsense’, said Louie holding Lulu tightly. ‘What is it?’
Lulu broke down and the tears just flowed. Lulu looked at Louie as though she was pleading for help.
‘Louie oh Louie, after the accident something has happened to me and I can’t have any little bees, oh help me Louie. I’ll understand if you don’t want me any more’.
Louie held Lulu close to him and stroked her gently to soothe her and said. ‘Lulu, nothing in the world will stop me loving you and we are going to get married’.
‘Louie’, replied Lulu. ‘Do you really mean that, you could marry someone better than me?’ Lulu sobbed.
‘No Lulu’, said Louie quite firmly looking at Lulu straight in the face. ‘You are the only one I would consider marrying, we will work through this together’.
‘Oh Louie’, said Lulu relieved at what Louie was saying. ‘Dearest Louie, thank you. I was so afraid you might not want me any more, you don’t know what it means to me for you to say that’.
‘Lulu’, said Louie. ‘I love you even more; I feel for you so much in your distress over this but it doesn’t matter, it’s not important. I want you to forget all about it. Our lives together go on the same as before’.
Lulu sobbed some more. It was more with pleasure now knowing that she wouldn’t lose Louie.
The pair remained silent for awhile then Louie said. ‘Lulu just think, it might be my entire fault. When I brought you back to life I may have stopped the process too soon and some damage hasn’t been completely reversed’.
‘Louie, dear Louie, you are so kind’, said Lulu drying her eyes and raising a smile.
‘That’s better’, said Louie. ‘You stay here and I will get you a cup of TG Tips and some chocolate cake, that will make you feel better’.
Lulu laughed and said. ‘Yes please, thank you my wonderful bee’,
Louie came back with the tea and chocolate cake and sat down beside Lulu again. The crisis for Lulu had passed and she was returning to her old self.
Louie smiled and delicately stroked Lulu’s head. ‘Apart from this nonsense’, said Louie laughing. ‘I hope Dr Wong didn’t find anything else wrong!’
‘No Louie’, said Lulu. ‘Everything is just fine and to know that you still want me makes everything just as good as it could be. I would dearly love for us to have some little bees of our own but if it is not to be, so be it I guess’.
‘Agreed’, said Louie. ‘You are not to worry about it any more, I will get very cross with you if you do!’ and gave Lulu an affectionate squeeze just about spilling her tea!
Lulu laughed.
It was getting on towards midday now; the sun was high and quite warm. Louie and Lulu moved the deck furniture into the shade of a fern frond.
‘You know Lulu’, said Louie, ‘what Dr Wong has told you is nothing in the scheme of things. I was just so close to losing you and I didn’t. That’s what counts!’
Louie was right. Louie and Lulu held each other and slept under the fern frond well into the afternoon. Life was good again; there was a wedding to organise now.