Dance of the Bumblebees

Blanket Cobb was inspired by bumblebees. They buzzed and bizzed around his head as he munched on edible weeds. They sang to him about the joys of bonsai, sunbathing and the crafting of miniature figurines. Atop the Watershed Heights apartment building, surrounded by the buzzing bees and a small garden of weeds that had sprung up almost overnight, Blanket Cobb pondered his unique existence.

"Takin care of bzzzzzzzness," Cobb hummed. "Bzzzbzz bzzz bz bzzzzzbzzzzzz," the bumblebees harmonized. The weeds were being digested and didn't feel the need to join in. As the sun beat down on the man and the bees and the weeds, Blanket Cobb lowered himself into a sitting lotus position. Cobb was no stranger to meditation, although he often fell asleep in the act. The bees buzzed in a crown around Cobb's head as he recited a simple prayer.

"Bzzzom," Cobb said. "Bzzzzom shanti shanti bzzzom".

Cobb was startled awake several hours later by the smell of testosterone. He wrinkled his nose and made a crab noise at the back of his throat. "Kchhha," Cobb said. He gagged a little bit and coughed up a bumblebee that had been relaxing in his esophagus.

On the other side of the rooftop garden, a very dangerous situation was about to unfold. It involved two men and a gun, and Cobb was not inclined to interfere. He sat in sitting lotus position and watched some shit go down.

"what THE FUCK are you doing with that gun?" Bzzzzzzzzzzzz went the bumblebees.

"gonna blow that bastard's brains out, that's what I'm gonna do..." Kikensi, kinan, kitai, whispered the bonsai.

"*BAMM*" a shot rang out, and Jesus cried crimson tears.

Blanket Cobb stood up and walked over to the scene of the crime. The men did not pay him any attention, and as Cobb approached them, he noticed something very disturbing. It's name was "crushed edible weeds and a dead bumblebee." In the midst of their argument, the men had stomped on a highly desirable cluster of edible weeds in addition to The Queen Bumblebee, who had bravely ventured out of her hive to see what the commotion was all about. Blanket Cobb was seized with a stomach spasm as he absorbed the full implications of this. The death of The Queen Bumblebee would kill off the whole hive! Cobb gently scooped up the dead bumblebee and carried her behind a Japanese maple, where he laid her down on a lamb's ear and experienced the five stages of grief. As he was moving from Denial to Anger, a police squadron burst onto the scene. When he was an inch away from Bargaining, both men jumped off the roof. The police left Blanket Cobb alone to deal with Depression, and then the cycle started all over again.

Several hours after Cobb had reached "acceptance" for the 17th time, a small worker bee named Zeta arrived in his left ear. She buzzed and bizzed and buzzed some more, and for the first time in 3 hours, Blanket Cobb felt hope.

In the rooftop garden of the Watershed Heights Apartment Building, as the setting sun bled a vibrant shade of crimson into the smoggy sky, Blanket Cobb was crowned Queen of the Bumblebees. The bonsai trees never disrespected him again, the edible weeds were fruitful and multiplied due to frequent pollination, and Blanket Cobb spent the rest of his life dancing to the musical buzzing of the bees.