Fiddle Diddle Dee, the Fly and the Bee
Because of this her father was very protective of his children, particularly his youngest daughter. Unlike the rest of her siblings, Eleanor was never allowed to fly more than a couple of inches from the branch on which they resided, because her father was so fearful she would be hurt. He had even hired guards to ensure that Eleanor was safe and remained close to their home at all times.
Despite her confined life, Eleanor was a very curious fly. One day while her father and her siblings were out, she heard a faint but mysterious humming noise. She took a quick look towards her guard, noting that he had fallen asleep in the shade provided by a patch of leaves, and began to cautiously make her way toward the noise.
“Oh fiddle dee fiddlesticks!” she heard someone exclaim and looked across to the next branch to see a giant fly looking around in all directions.
Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer that her guard wouldn't wake up and find her missing, Eleanor took off and flew to the next branch landing a short distance from the mysterious thing.
“Bzzzz,” she said tentatively, “Excuse me, Is everything okay?”
The thing turned toward her and Eleanor was able to get a good look. It was quite large compared to her, yellow and black striped with wings similar to hers but much larger. Goodness gracious! It was a bumble bee! Flashes of warnings about the terrible and savage creatures had Eleanor backing away apprehensively frantically looking for a place to escape the bee’s sight.
Just as Eleanor was about to make her escape the bee called to her, “Wait, Please don’t go! I won’t hurt you.”
Eleanor stopped and turned back toward the bee. “Who are you? What do you want?” she questioned.
“I’m Franklin. My hive was destroyed today while I was out. When I came back everyone was gone. My queen, my dad, everyone. I’m all alone, I’ve never been all alone before,” he said.
The desperate look on his face tugged at Eleanor’s heart strings and so she settled down to keep the bee company. Eleanor had never had a real friend before, outside of her siblings at least. She found herself telling Franklin all about her life and her family, wishing he could come back to her branch with her to keep her company. After a while though Eleanor remembered where she was.
“Oh no! I’ve got to get back to my branch! If my guard has woken up and finds me missing, I’ll probably get chained to a leaf for the rest of my life! Let’s meet tomorrow? Same time?” Eleanor waited for Franklin to agree before zooming back to her branch. She landed, out of breath and flustered, just as her guard was waking up. Whew! That was close!
Over the next week, Franklin and Eleanor met up as often as they could. Franklin was all she could think about. He was shy and funny, nothing like the bees her father had warned her about. She was so caught up in her new friendship, that she almost missed when her father tell her that he had decided she was to be married, and soon.
“I have found a suitable match for you, Eleanor. He is strong and quick, and lives on a large branch with many servants and guards who will keep you safe.”
Ripped from her daydream, Eleanor stuttered, “Wh-what? Suitable match? What are you even talking about? Have you been drinking fermented nectar again, I’m not marrying some random fly!”
“Eleanor, you will do as I say, and you will do it without complaint,” her father turned around, dismissing her. “The wedding will be held in two days time.”
Eleanor was in a panic. She paced and buzzed around for hours, unable to fathom what was happening. She had to get away. She couldn’t live like this anymore! She was not going to be handed off to another fly and live the rest of her life confined to a branch. She wanted love, adventure, freedom!
She began devising a plan. Tomorrow morning while her father and siblings were away, she would escape her guard to see Franklin. They would run away together, maybe if they got enough of a head start her father would never find her.
The next morning she could hardly stand still while she waited for Franklin to meet her in their usual spot. When he finally got there she could hardly get the words out fast enough.
“Franklin! We have to get out of here! My father has demanded that I marry some fly he’s chosen in two days! We have to run away! Quick, let’s go!”
“Wait, Ellie, what? Now hold on. There might be a way around this. You don’t have to leave your family behind forever,” he reasoned.
“What do you mean?” Eleanor asked, blushing over the nickname he had given her.“We could get married instead. If you’re already married to someone, your father won’t be able to make you marry that fly. Ya know, if you wouldn’t mind marrying me,” he looked away shyly, unable to make eye contact with her.
Eleanor was shocked, but more than a little thrilled. Spending time with Franklin was the best part of her day. She hesitated for a second before breaking into a smile, “Well what are we waiting for?”
Eleanor and Franklin flew off to the nearest church the could find, giddy in their nervous excitement. They paused outside of the church, linked their limbs and smiled at each other before walking in and saying their vows.
FIDDLE-DE-DEE, fiddle-de-dee,
The fly shall marry the humble-bee.
They went to the church, and married was she:
The fly has married the humble-bee.
Image information: This image depicting the wedding of a fly and a bumble bee was created by Zach Bellissimo and posted in 2007 on deviantart. http://seizuredemon.deviantart.com/art/A-Fly-marrying-a-Bumble-Bee-65880641
I really enjoyed the nursery rhyme that you picked for this assignment. I thought the way that you told the story was very creative. I enjoyed every bit of it. I like that the fly was rebellious, and also ended up marrying a bumblebee! Who would’ve thunk it? I’m curious as to what their HONEY-moon would have been like. Get it? I made a bee joke…
ReplyDeleteThis was adorable Madeline! I loved the sweet story of the fly and the bumble bee and so cool to see how you extended the short rhyme in to a full story. You really painted a picture with your writing which made it really easy to understand. I think the phrase "fiddle-sticks" is adorable! I also loved some of the other vocabulary you used when writing. I think word choice really has a lot to do with painting a picture of a story. I'm big on very and adjectives and you did a great job at that! The whole story was sweet and had a sense of fairytale to it! I also loved how you placed them in London and gave them fun British names! Eleanor is a favorite name of mine so I was hooked from the beginning! This is one of the more enjoyable stories I have read! Besides a few grammar slips it was great!
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