Bees! (Eris's Perspective)

Nam Nao National Park is situated five hours away (by car) from the town of Pratunam Pra-in in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. Our family planned to visit the park while my mother’s parents were visiting. We all eagerly awaited the six nights in a ‘jungle cabin’, though we were not looking forward to the long drive there.

                Everything worked out as planned, and we arrived at Nam Nao safely.

We had many adventures during our week-long visit, but the third day brought an especially exciting one…

                We had chosen that particular day to go on a hike to Sai Thong and Hao Sai Waterfalls. We walked along happily. When the path forked, we went to the left towards Sai Thong Waterfall. After we came back from Sai Thong, we would take the right to Hao Sai.

                Not long after, the path split again. We paused to figure out which way to go. Mommy passed a bottle of water around, while Daddy explored the path to the left, and Grandpa tramped down the path to the right.

                It didn’t take them long to decide which was the correct path: the one on the right.

                We continued along the trail, Grandpa in the lead with me close behind and Meriel taking up the space between the two of us. They rest of the group lingered behind.

                We walked along leisurely, enjoying ourselves despite the heat of the day. We stopped occasionally to take pictures of a brightly colored flower, or large rock.

                I was relaxing, never suspecting that something exciting would happen, when, all of the sudden, Meriel screamed!

                I felt something sting my foot and saw bees swarming all around her. I didn’t get more than a glance; I just ran back to where the other adults were lingering.

                “BEES!” I screamed as soon as I came close to them.

                Daddy threw off his backpack. “Run!” he shouted.

                Hysteria gripped me, and I RAN!

                I paused momentarily to tell Mommy, and Grandma, “BEES!” point at my sting, and grab Hollis’s hand.

                “Daddy says run!” I cried. And she ran! I was close behind.

                After a few minutes, she dropped behind to let me take the lead.

                “Are you okay?” I asked, certain she must be tiring.

                “I’m fine,” Hollis assured me.

                I was dizzy with fear, though now I realize that the bees wouldn’t have followed me farther than a hundred meters. I had had a terror of bees since I was five years old. I had been walking along the sidewalk behind my mother, and accidentally disturbed a bees nest. I remembered my mother saying, “Come on; they won’t hurt you.” And I remember the next moment, three bees were attacking me.

                Perhaps some of my fear of bees also came from the memory of the night that my sister found a dead wasp in her bed. She had whimpered, “My arm hurts,” and I had gone out of our room to inform my parents. I don’t remember, now, but I’m sure I was shocked when we discovered it was a wasp in Meriel’s bed!

                Or maybe it’s just how I am: afraid of bees.

                Somewhere along the path, we stopped.

                “Which way now?” I asked Hollis, hoping she would have some idea.

                “I don’t know,” said Hollis with wide, frightened eyes.

                I went over to the wooden picnic table that decorated the clearing, and stood up on one of the logs surrounding it, to escape from bugs (though they might have been able to follow me up), and to catch my breath while I looked around in order to figure out which way to go.

                Not seeing a clear trail leading from the clearing, I got down from the stump and wandered down to the end of the expanse. That was when I saw the bamboo sticks in the shape of an arrow, pointing down a… clear trail! I had forgotten about the marker that Grandma had made on our way!

                “Hollis!” I called. “I found the trail!”

                The little girl had followed me slowly, and now she ran the last few feet to where I stood.

                “Hollis, see!” I cried, “Grandma’s arrow!” 

                Hollis didn’t say “Oh!” out loud, but the look in her eyes said it.

                Without another word, we continued running along the trail.

                We ran and ran and ran and ran and ran.                                                                        

                Normally I would have had a terrible stitch in my side before we had gone even a quarter of the way, but my fear of the bees had created an adrenaline rush, and so, after the whole kilometer that Hollis and I ran, I wasn’t even panting.

                We were on the lookout for a big tree that we had seen on the way up the mountain, but either we missed it, or it was farther down the trail. We stopped finally at the top of a waterfall (a noticeable landmark that we had crossed (it was mostly rock with only a small stream of water) on our way along the trail). I looked at the place we had crossed the stream before.  A small ledge jutted out over the foot-wide stream of water.

                I picked up Hollis and tried to swing her over. If I hadn’t been thinking of the precarious drop from the top of the falls, I could have done it easily, but I was thinking about that. My foot slipped. Just one inch, but it was enough to make me drag Hollis back to the other side.

                “No,” I said, my voice loud, and firm, “I can’t take you across. It’s too dangerous. I shouldn’t have even tried.”

                My heart was pounding violently. I thought of what could have happened if we had slipped all the way down the falls. I looked at Hollis.

                “Why don’t you stay here? I’m going to the other side of the stream to the place where we dipped our feet in before. Cold water is good for stings.”

                Hollis nodded. Her eyes were still wide with fright. She sat in a little, huddled heap as I stepped across the stream.

                I removed the sandal off my left foot and swung my foot in the cold water. It felt so nice… so comfortable, on my hot, stinging skin. I half-relaxed, giving myself time to calm down. I was still too worked-up, though, to think about how my parents, and grandparents, must be worried.

                I thought of what an exciting story I could write about this adventure. I could tell my friends, “Something happened to me while I was at Nam Nao that I would have thought would have been something you’d just read in a storybook…”

                After several minutes, I thought I heard someone calling.

                I cupped my hands around my mouth, and shouted as loud as I could, “AT THE WATERFALL!”

                I heard the sound again. Taking a deep breath I yelled. “WE’RE FINE, AND AT THE WATERFALL!” 

                Hollis looked up from where she sat. “Do you want me to go?”

                I shook my head. Of course I didn’t want her to go find them, alone!

                A few moments of silence.

                “AT THE WATERFALL!” I screamed again.

                The next moment I saw my father emerge from the forest.

                “DADDY!”

                He rushed towards me. After crossing the stream, and helping Hollis across, he came and sat by me.

                I leaned against him, blinking back tears.

                A few more minutes, and Mommy joined us, carrying my baby sister, Calla, in her baby-carrier. She smiled when she saw us.

                “I was so worried,” her voice cracked. She hugged me. And Hollis.

                It wasn’t long before the grandparents, Meriel, and Simeon joined us.

                Meriel was covered in stings. Nine bees had successfully stuck their stingers into her.

                We all sat there, talking, and resting.

                I told how we had come here and about trying to get Hollis over the stream.

                Then we all told about our experiences with bees.

                “Well, Meriel,” Daddy laughed, “The one good thing about this adventure is that you’ve a good bee story now!”

                When we had all calmed down, we went back and followed the trail down to Hao Sai Waterfall. No one really wanted to finish the walk to Sai Thong Waterfall.

                I looked up at the magnificent waterfall and shivered to think of what would have happened if Hollis and I had slipped down it. I shook those thoughts from my head, in order to enjoy my time at the waterfall.

                There were some Thai young adults playing in the pools at the bottom of the waterfall. (It was the same waterfall that Hollis and I had rested at the top of.) Grandpa went over to them and tried to act out the whole bee story to warn them. He says he’s certain they understood, but the rest of us were, and are, pretty doubtful!