The Unwelcome Guests
Ring Ring, Ring Ring, Ring Ri--.. "Hello?"
"Dr. Larry? Is that you? I'm so sorry to be calling y--"
"Who is this? What time is it?"
"It's Benny. I know it's really late to be calling you, but I have to
talk
to you!"
"What's the matter? Is everything okay?"
"I
had another dream.. well, actually it was more of a nightmare tonight,
and I couldn't wait to talk about it until our next appointment."
"You could have at least waited until the morning."
"You don't understand, Larry. I woke up from the nightmare in a cold
sweat!"
"Benny, bears don't sweat."
"I
know! Exactly! My nightmare was so terrifying, that my body
couldn't
even respond naturally! I usually am not bothered by nightmares, but
this one was really different. Everything seemed so real."
"Okay, okay. Go ahead, I'm ready to listen.."
"At
first the dream was very pleasant. It must have been winter time,
because I was in my cave sleeping. All of a sudden I heard a
noise
coming from the door of the den, and I was immediately awakened.
This
part was really weird to because bears like me don't just wake up
because of a small noise. Anyways, I quickly jumped out of bed
and
started to walk toward the door to see what the noise was. As I
got
closer, it sounded like someone was knocking on the door. I had
no
idea
who would be visiting me at this time of the year since all of my
friends were either hibernating or had migrated. But I
guess I didn't
care, because I opened the door without hesitation. This is where
the
dream starts to get weird. Standing on my front step was the
ultimate bear
himself,
Winnie the Pooh. I know he's a fictional character, but trust me,
he
was very real in my dream. Winnie asked me if he could come
inside.
Normally I never let strangers in my den, but I can think of three
reasons why I did. First, it was freezing outside. Secondly,
Winnie
the Pooh was my idol growing up. And lastly, he was holding a
giant
jar of honey! As I walked Pooh into my den, I noticed that there
was a
bee flying over the jar. Of course I began to try to shoo the bee
out
of the den, but oddly Pooh stopped me. He explained to me that
the bee
was his cousin, Billy - don't ask me how that happened - and that if I
threw Billy out of the den, he was leaving too. Not wanting to
lose
Pooh's company and his jar of honey, I invited both Billy and Pooh into
the den. Pooh and I sat down and began to eat some of the
honey. I
don't know what it was about this honey, but it was the best honey I
have ever tasted. I couldn't stop eating the stuff! As I
continued to
eat, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there were now at least
ten bees in the den. When I asked Pooh where the other bees came
from,
he explained that they were Billy's friends. Normally I would
have
done something at this point, but I think I was too busy enjoying the
honey to care. The honey was so good and the giant jar it was in seemed
bottomless. After a few moments, ten bees soon turned into around
fifty. I started to panic. Being in a room filled with
fifty bees was
just asking for trouble. Yet, I still couldn't force myself to
stop
eating the honey. It was like the gooey stuff was gaining control
over
me. Before I knew it the fifty bees multiplied into what must
have
been thousands of bees. I could barely even see Winnie the Pooh
in
front of me, because the room was so crowded with bees! Oh, it
was
horrible! And then it finally happened.. All of the bees at once
started to sting me! They kept stinging and stinging until I
finally
ran out of my den into the cold snow. And that's when I woke
up. I know it seems silly, but I can't even think about honey or
bees without feeling dizzy."
"Wow, that dream must have really affected you."
"Yeah, I think it was because the dream seemed so real. I could
even feel the bees piercing through my fur coat!"
"Hmm, well
even though this nightmare really scared you, I think it provides an
important lesson you can benefit from."
"You
really think so? Like what? I don't know how I can find anything good
in a nightmare in which I stung countless times and then thrown out of
my own den."
"How did the first bee get in your den?"
"Well,
I let Billy in. But if I kicked him out, I wouldn't have been
able to
enjoy Pooh's honey. And besides, it was only one bee."
"Okay, what happened when you ate the honey?"
"I guess I became more addicted and more bees appeared until.. well, my
den was taken over with the thousands of bees."
"Exactly!
Do you see now? You gradually let something that was evil ,the
bees,
invade your own home because of your desire to feel good, eating the
honey."
"Oh, okay I think I'm beginning to get it! When I took
that first step of just letting Billy, I ultimately forfeited my whole
den. Although I knew I should have done something as more and
more
bees entered, I couldn't because the honey was gaining more and more
control over me."
"I think you got it. Well, I would love to
chat about this some more, but I think I'm going to go back to what I
was doing before you called me."
"Oh, right! Sorry for waking you up. Sweet dreams.."
Author's
Note: This story is loosely based on The
Arab and His Camel. In the
original story, an Arab gradually allows his camel to enter his tent in
order for the camel to stay warm. At first, the camel asks the
Arab if
can just place his head inside the tent. The camel then adds the
fact
that he may be warmer if he could also stick his neck in the
tent. The
Arab also grants this wish. This continues until the camel is
completely in the tent. Since the tent is not big enough for both
of
them, the camel makes the suggestion that the Arab should stand outside
in order to make more room. As you can see, I changed and added a lot
to the original story. In my story, Benny represents the Arab, and the
bees represent the camel. I also added the fact that the honey
was
preventing Benny from taking any action against the bees. I added
the
fact that as Benny continued to eat more of the honey, he became more
addicted to it. As a result, as more bees came he had a harder
time
giving up the honey. I though this was similar to how a lot
of people allow types of sin to control them. Although committing
the
sin or evil act may seem harmless at first, as the person takes more
steps in that sin, he becomes less sensitive to how wrong it is and has
a harder time turning away. The same can be seen in this
story with
Benny and in the original with the Arab. As they they let evil
in,
little by little, they became more powerless to it.
Cover Page
Image Information
Image of Winnie the Pooh. Web source: UTA.