The Flood

for the Honeybee

The two sisters had been sent on a walk after trying their parents’ patience for half the morning. No sooner had the rain stopped than their mother turned them out of doors. Now they were trying each other’s patience. Ten-year-old Rina, dressed in a tunic and leggings wanted to explore. Her older sister, Amethyst, walked slowly, trying to keep her silk skirts dry. When they reached the flooded bank near the river, Rina promptly began splashing in deep puddles.

            “Come on, this is fun!” cried Rina scampering through the water.

            Frowning, Amethyst backed away from the water and shook her head, “Come back Katarina. It isn’t ladylike.”

            Rina only splashed further into the flooded plains, blithely ignoring Amethyst’s cry of “Come back!”

            Happily, Rina waded through the pools left by the incessant rain. The water quickly rose to her waist and then to her chest. Sometimes she tripped and had to swim. Once she lost her shoe when she stepped into a big hole. She had to dive for it to retrieve it. It was a good day.

            Suddenly hands grabbed her and she was lifted out of the water. Rina screamed and kicked.

            “What do you think you’re doing?” asked a low voice.

            Rina groaned as she recognized the captain of her father’s guard – and her sometimes bodyguard. “I never get to do anything fun!” she whined as he set her down on a very solid and not flooded patch of ground. The captain sighed. Keeping the Baron’s daughter safe was not an easy task. Rina complained all the way back to the castle.

            Rina was severely reprimanded by her father and her mother, but she made no attempt at contrition. In exasperation, her parents locked her in her room to learn the error of her ways (with guards at the door and below the window to prevent her from sneaking out.) Rina spent a very long time in her room.

            But even years later when she understood how rightly worried her parents had been, playing in the flood was still one of her favorite memories.